Daddy Hokage
by AnneLea
Summary: Ups and downs of being a hokage and a father...and being Naruto. The first few chapters hint at things going on, but, as the eldest child gets older more is revealed. Someone is still after the former Jinchuuriki. Rating for last chapter. Lemon & rape
1. Chapter 1

Nope, don't own Naruto, and I'm not going to repeat that every chapter. So, read it now and get used to it before you go on.

Anyway, the teams will be posted later when they are needed, or in the next story after this one. Family trees are posted at the end, even though it's early yet,

I think it's really important for you to know, before reading this, that it's mainly a collection of one shots to start with. That's because it is written as an explanation for the next story which was originally written without much background and way too many OCs. Have fun, but remember it's not the original idea.

"I cannot believe you are actually going into a meeting with the Kazekage's brother with a baby on your chest like that!" Inichima, the only man brave enough to put up with the Hokage's constant need of ramen for lunch every day and fresh diapers to take home nearly once a week while being the Hokage's secretary, stared in wide eyed shock at Naruto as Naruto entered the waiting area.

"Hinata is planning a party for tonight in celebration of Temari and Shikamaru's marriage. She can't take care of Hitomi right now, and I'm still not certain Neji knows how to hold her right just yet," Naruto shrugged. "I doubt Kankurou will mind much, if at all, seeing as he and Temari practically raised Gaara themselves."

"Yes, but it's still rather... unprofessional, Lord Hokage," Inichima reached out and took the diaper bag from Naruto and began unstrapping the baby carrier. "Let me take care of her for a while today."

"Hinata would kill me," Naruto replied, catching the other man's hand before Inichima could unfasten the important straps. "That is, if Neji and the rest of the Hyuugas don't catch me first."

"They don't have to know..."

"They'll find out one way or another. They always do," Naruto said, shaking his head as he held out his hand for the diaper bag. "So, if you'll please hand that back, I have a meeting to try and save."

Inichima cringed, but handed the bag over anyway.

Naruto strode into his office proudly, baby giggling on his chest and business files stuffed down the diaper bag on his arm. He most certainly was not embarrassed to be a father, so he would not be embarrassed to bring his children to work as long as they were well enough behaved. Hitomi was a rather happy baby who fussed more than she cried when not in a good mood or wanting something, so Naruto deemed her a very well behaved child. Growing up in the orphanage, he had been exposed to many ill, well, and moderately behaved children and babies, so he felt that he could make a decent estimation of his own.

Kankurou smiled and shook his head when Naruto walked in and greeted him, baby in tow. "I knew you were happy to have a baby, but I never pegged you for the kind to bring it into work with you."

"Well, if it wasn't for your sister, I wouldn't have the privilege of showing her off today," Naruto replied, gesturing for Kankurou to take a seat as he found his own and pulled out the files they were to look over together and make corrections to.

Hitomi had been sleeping like a rock up until her father sat down and leaned over to rummage in the diaper bag for his files. Naruto's first warning of her waking was her hands moving around. Next came a kick with her foot, and by the time he was sitting up again, her bright blue eyes had opened to stare at him with adorable accusation just before she started making low, agitated fussing sounds through a flared nose.

"You'll get over it," Naruto said, making a face at her in return.

"Uh oh, did somebody wake up in a bad mood?" Kankurou teased as he tried to catch sight of the child's eyes to see which parent they had come from. Would she be a copy of her mother, already having the Hyuuga's black hair? Or, would she be a perfect physical combination, having her father's sapphire eyes?

"She won't be loud," Naruto said, worrying that Kankurou wouldn't want to stay around a fussy child during their meeting. "Pretty quiet so far, just like Hinata, but don't let her get your fingers in her mouth or in her fists. She's teething and we have a hard time keeping up with her nails."

"I remember when Gaara was at that stage," Kankurou grinned as he set his own, already updated copies of the files. "The kid had my old teddy bear gnawed to death on the paws, ears, and nose."

Naruto looked at the other man in a new light. He knew that Temari and Kankurou had done a lot in raising their little brother, but he never thought that there would be memories from those times that the elder Sand Siblings could smile about.

"Don't look so surprised, Naruto," Kankurou laughed a little. "Nobody had a reason to fear him until our father started trying to have him killed. That's when betrayal took its toll on him."

"Yeah, I know," Naruto looked down at his daughter, "but we're all going to promise our children a better world than we inherited."

"That's the plan," Kankurou opened the top file of his stack. "Ready?"

"Hinata, you really can calm down," Temari patted her on the back as they poured over color choices on the kitchen table. "I doubt Naruto will misplace her or anything like Kankurou did with Gaara."

"What happened with your brothers?" Hinata asked, nervously putting a pale yellow next to a petal pink from their cloth swaths. "What do you think of this for the brides maids?"

"Pretty, but the yellow could be a little stronger, like this one, maybe?" Temari moved a barely brighter swath over to the other side of the pink. The difference wasn't much, but it was enough to pop against the pink whereas the yellow Hinata had chosen blended and complemented instead. "Anyway, about the brothers... Kankurou had all kinds of mishaps with Gaara. We took him with us training every day, but I left before Kankurou most of the time to take Gaara home so that our uncle could have time with him, too. One time when I was sick, I said I'd trust Kankurou to handle Gaara for the day alone, but Kankurou came home without Gaara that afternoon. He was so frantic I would have had trouble keeping up with him if I was on a sugar high on a healthy day. Then there was the time when Gaara had just turned one. Kankurou was tossing him up and spinning him around rather fast in the courtyard, but it was rather hot out, and his hands slipped. Gaara hit the wall and was knocked out, but Kankurou didn't know that he wasn't really hurt all that bad because the sand saved him."

It took her a moment to realize Hinata's hands were shaking and no longer playing with the colors before them on the table. "Are you all right, Hinata?"

"I...I need to go somewhere!" Hinata ran off, forgetting to put her shoes on at the door, not even caring that she was still in her night clothes and hadn't done much but ran a brush through her hair.

Temari had no idea what the other woman's problem was until she started thinking about what she had just said. When she realized that the last subject had been Gaara as a child, it hit her that Hinata must have gotten panicked about her own child and Naruto. Temari laughed and shook her head, moving around some more swaths and photos of flowers on the table.

Naruto watched every movement carefully, nervous about the first time someone other than he, Hinata, or Neji had held Hitomi since she was born. Kankurou seemed to notice this and decided not to do more than just hold the girl and play with her feet. He certainly took heed to Naruto's warning about nails and the cutting teeth.

"I hope my baby is this well behaved," Kankurou commented.

"Your baby?" Naruto asked, unaware of Kankurou being married. "When did you get a wife?"

A slightly awkward look crossed the other man's face as he looked up from the baby to the Hokage. "I uh... I wasn't ready to marry her, and I don't know if I am yet, either. It just sort of... happened."

"How can it just happen?" Naruto asked, "Didn't you take precautions?"

"Yeah, but they don't work 100, you know," Kankurou replied honestly. "I don't know exactly how I feel about Taka, but that baby will not suffer over that indecision if I can help it."

"That's a good enough plan for me, I guess," Naruto smiled nervously. "I hope it understands if things don't work out for the two of you."

"So do I." Kankurou barely got out before the doors burst open, startling both men.

Naruto nearly jumped over the table to grab his daughter until he saw that the intruder was his wife. Kankurou had cradled Hitomi closer and turned ehr away from the opening doors all in one swift movement. Although Naruto was relieved that Kankurou had so naturally protected the girl, Hinata was terrified when she could not see her daughter happy and smiling or sleeping peacefully. While Naruto relaxed a little and became curious as to what was going on to bring his wife to the Kage Tower in that state, Hinata became even more frantic.

"Where is she?" Hinata demanded, rushing up to the two men. "Where is she?"

"Hinata, what--?" Naruto stood and began to come around the desk to her, but she cut him off.

"Where is Hitomi?" she demanded, running around the room.

"She's fine; she's here," Kankurou tried to sooth her, holding the child out to her. "See?"

Hinata snatched her baby away from him with a cry of joy and anger. "Naruto! Don't you EVER let him hold her again!"

"Hinata, what's the matter?" Naruto asked, finally coming over to her. She had been backing away from Kankurou since reclaiming her child, so he had to chase her a few steps before catching hold of her shoulders and halting her retreat. "What are you worried about?"

"He could barely remember his own brother!" Hinata said, looking around her husband at the other man. "How can you trust him with our baby?"

Temari burst out laughing when her brother related the frightening story. After calming down a bit, she was able to tell him what part she had played, but the actual reason that such a thing could trigger so much fear in the Hyuuga Clan's Head, they still couldn't understand. Neither of them had ever seen the woman so frightened and hysterical before. Apparently, no one in Konoha had seen her that way before either.

Naruto took the rest of the day off from the office that day to be with his family and calm Hinata. When Neji caught wind of the episode, he immediately offered to take Hitomi off their hands. He had made plans to go with Tenten, his new fiance, for the day. They had taken care of the child for the day or a night here and there before in the past couple of months since Hitomi had moved from breast to bottle. It had taken a little convincing before Hinata agreed.

Naruto sat Hinata down in one of the compound's gardens near a man-made water fall that emptied out into a pool with koi fish she so dearly loved to watch when thinking. She had once told him that it was in this very garden where Neji had given her the idea that had sent her to the Clan Elders with a game plan that would allow more freedom for love interests among her clan-kin. He remembered that it was in this garden that she had gone into labor with Hitomi. Her small body was so wracked with the pain of trying to expel the slightly too large baby that they had to call help to come to them rather than anyone try to take her to the hospital. A couple of the more porous stones still held brown stains from the blood of that day. According to her own tales, this garden was where she herself was born, just like Hitomi, but by choice rather than circumstance.

"Hinata," Naruto whispered, wrapping an arm around her waist as they cuddled on the bench, "what are you so afraid of happening to Hitomi that caused you to do that today?"

"I...I don't want to say right now," Hinata said with a light sniffle as she buried her face into his chest.

"Hinata, I need to know," he pressed, putting a bit more sound into his voice. "You know everything about me, and I thought I knew pretty much everything about you. Please, tell me. If something happens like that again... You had me real scared in there, you know?"

"Oh, Naruto, I'm so sorry!" she popped back away from him, looking into his eyes in all seriousness. "I was just so scared that something had happened, or that something would happen...!"

"Like what?" he asked.

Hinata related the two tales Temari had told her about Kankurou and Gaara, but Naruto knew that couldn't be the whole of it.

"Let me ask you something, Hinata," he said after a moment, hoping that his comparisons might get something out of her besides the stories of the Sand Siblings. "Did you ever leave Hanabi like that when you were put in charge of her?"

She shook her head to the negative.

"And, knowing that I still view Sasuke-teme as a brother, have you ever known me to not know where he is and how he is doing since he's been back? Have I ever sat back and done nothing to try and keep anyone in the village, especially you and Hitomi safe?"

Again she shook her head. "It's not you I'm worried about making a mistake in handling her."

"Then what is it you fear so much?" he asked, turning to her fully even though it put his back in an odd twist.

"I...if you...if I don't...she could...and then...like them..." Hinata stuttered, only getting out half sentences as she focused on pushing her fingertips together, instantly regaining her old nervous habit.

"Hinata-kun, you're not making any sense," he laughed a little, trying to calm her down again. It usually worked. This time it succeeded in bringing her to tears, though she choked things out a bit more fully this time.

"The moment we're not looking... If someone who doesn't know of her status and worth to kidnappers has her... I don't want us to be like my parents, Naruto! I don't want her to...to be ... scared of everyone all her life!"

"Wait a minute!" Naruto said, finally getting something of an idea as to what she meant. "Did something happen to you when you were real little? Did someone take you away for money?"

She nodded.

"And that's when your father got harsh on you?" he asked, pulling at another prominent straw.

"Hai," she nodded again. "I don't want that for her."

"Then she won't have that," Naruto said firmly.

Alright, even though this is the very first chapter, I still feel the need to put this in right away. Here's the basic family trees for what I have planned for this story:

Naruto + Hinata

ll

Hitomi--(5 yrs)--Hiraki--(7 yrs)--Minato

+Toshihiro + ?

ll ll

Tabenko Naruto

Neji + Tenten

ll

Kyomaru + Mitsurami

ll

Kyoki

Kiba + ?

ll

Toshihiro + Hitomi

ll

Tabenko

Ino + Sasuke

ll

Toshimaru--(6 yrs)--Shakaiko

Sakura + Lee

ll

Ichimaru(3 months before death)--Rinko

Shikamaru + Temari

ll

?

Shino + ?

ll

Twin girls--(8 yrs)--Miko

Konohamaru + Moegi

ll

Asuma

Kakashi + Iruka

m

Mitsurami + Kyomaru

ll

Kyoki

Kankurou + Takarako

ll

Kimagure


	2. Chapter 2

Well, let's face it, our parents faults often drift down the gene pool to us as well. Thus we have the eldest Uzumaki girl with one of her father's early problems.

And now we also get a taste of the first time Konoha is brought into the fray with the as yet unseen antagonists.

The thing with the second Uzumaki child comes from an inspiration from a Sean Morey song called "The Toddler Song" whose lyrics I'll post at the end of this chapter for those of you without access to the hilarity that is Sean Morey's mind.

"Hitomi?" Naruto jogged the last little stretch to the school grounds where his eldest daughter waited with a sad face. "What's wrong?"

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes, shying away a bit, but only succeeding in backing into a nearby trash can.

"Hitomi?"

"Please don't be mad, Tou-san..." she whimpered.

"About what?" he asked, trying to sound soothing.

"I... I didn't... I failed..."

"Well, Hitomi, we can always work on it at home a little more to see what's wrong," he said, kneeling down before her in bemused curiosity. "What did you fail at?"

"Bushin..."

Naruto burst out laughing, startling his daughter for a moment and drawing the attention of many children and adults near-by. "You're worried I'd be mad about that? Why?"

"But, you're not mad?" she asked, completely confused now.

"Of course not! You're still just learning yet, and I used to be terrible at it, too. Just ask Iruka-sensei someday. He can tell you all about that and more... Baby, every ninja started off just like you did and had to work towards what they have now. You just need a little extra help is all."

"Really? You know someone who can help me?"

"Come on, silly," he said, standing up and scooping her into his arms to put her on his hip. "How about we go get some ramen and talk about it, all right?"

Of course, the words "go get some ramen" perked her right up, just as Naruto knew they would. Neither one thought about dinner at home that evening as they made their way to Ichiraku's Ramen Stand, playing "lick the finger" all the way. At one point, Naruto stuck his finger to her forehead, knowing that there was no way she could touch it with her tongue. Hitomi screwed up her eyes in frustration, wishing that if she couldn't at least reach the goal, he would suffer for the taunt. Her forehead burned with the emotion just before her father yelped and pulled his hand away, nearly dropping her as well.

"You did it!" Naruto smiled around his sore finger he had just stuck into his mouth to try and stop the bleeding even though it was already healing just fine.

"Are you all right, Tou-san?" Hitomi asked, concerned and frightened as she clung to his shoulder for dear life. "What happened?"

"You used a Hyuuga trick with your chakra!" Naruto said, readjusting his grip on the five-year-old. "You'll show those clan-purist snobs yet, won't you?"

Hitomi smiled nervously, then burst out laughing as Naruto assaulted her sides with gentle, tickling fingers.

"Naruto! Hey, Nuckel-head!"

Neither father nor daughter heard the woman calling them at first. Their laughter drowned out almost all sounds around them.

"Rokudaime Uzumaki Naruto!"

Naruto jumped to the side five feet when the woman's voice yelled in his ear. Quickly setting Hitomi behind him, Naruto dropped down into a low stance and created about ten bushin to surround the offender before realizing it was only a friend with a very stressed out look on her face. Ino looked like she was ready to pound him the way Sakura had done on many occasions in the past. Instead, she lashed out on the closest bushin before Naruto could dismiss them.

"Hey, that hurt!" Naruto said, resisting the urge to rub his cheek where she had struck the bushin.

"Next time answer me," she replied without a shred of respect for him, although he never really expected her to address him as a superior.

If her new husband decided to, Sasuke could beat him to within an inch of his life for a third time. It didn't help that Naruto was still having an ANBU tail him at all hours of the day. Sasuke seemed to think it was because Naruto was suspicious, and that was how the Hokage wanted it to look, but the truth was that he worried about Sasuke and Ino. The majority of the village looked at Sasuke now the way they had once looked at Naruto. Ino could be in trouble because of her acceptance of him, too. The real mission of the ANBU members that took turns tailing the Uchihas was to protect them from potential threats, not protect the village from Sasuke.

"What's going on, Ino?" Naruto asked, Hitomi taking no heed as she ran up and wrapped her arms around the woman's thighs.

"Sakura and Hinata are both in labor." Ino said, rubbing the child's hair.

"What?" Naruto's eyes went wide. "Both of them?"

Ino nodded.

"What's labor?" Hitomi asked, looking up at the blond woman in question.

"Ino, could you?" Naruto looked down at Hitomi then back up at the woman, antsy like neither of them had seen him before.

"I've got her, and we'll bring both bags. You hurry up!" Ino said, taking Hitomi's hand possessively.

"Hitomi, be a good girl for Ino and Sasuke," Naruto said, planting a hasty kiss on her forehead before sprinting off towards the hospital and maternity ward within.

&

Hitomi looked at the crying bundle of blanket with annoyance. All her little sister ever seemed to do was cry, eat, sleep, and dirty her diapers.

"Hiraki will have to do something else than me, Kaa-san," Hitomi said to Hinata as the woman rocked the baby in her arms.

"Why do you say that, Hitomi?" Hinata asked her eldest daughter.

"She is always loud and complaining," Hitomi said, "the only thing that will suit her is to be an actress that only plays crying scenes or the annoying kid who loves to make trouble."

Hinata suppressed a laugh in order to look serious as she informed her eldest of the truth. "If you knew how loud a baby you were, you wouldn't say that about your sister. The only time you were well behaved was when your father was around or you were at my breast. At least Hiraki sleeps through the night!"

Hitomi lowered her head a little at the quip from her mother. "Gomen, Kaa-san."

Hinata let slip a small smile. "You may not like her now, or for many years to come, but one day you will look back at all the time spent with her and realize just how precious she really is to you."

Toddlers were a nightmare, and here Naruto was faced with it a second time. Hiraki seemed to be a bit more adventurous than her older sister. She still had trouble speaking some of the words Hitomi had mastered by the age of two, but what she lacked in speech she made up for in mobility. Electrical sockets were no longer safe from metal paper clips and broaches as Hiraki had learned how to open drawers iand/i pull off the socket protectors.

When sticking other objects into the holes and making the lights go out ceased to amuse her, she began trying to stick her pudgy fingers inside. When they would not fit, Hiraki leaned forward and wondered what it would be like fi she could get her tongue inside and how it would taste. When she woke up later on--a bucket of water poured on her head by Hitomi doing the job quite nicely--she had forgotten what it had tasted like and tried it once more.

"Kaa-san!" Hitomi yelled out as her sister passed out again. "Kaa-san, help! Hiraki killed herself!"

About fifteen minutes later Naruto could be seen tearing through the Hokage tower and into the hospital like a madman with little regard for those in his way that he knew could dodge him whether they chose to or not. Hitomi waved him over to the pediatric ward with a grimace, already knowing what was awaiting him when he entered.

Naruto stopped dead at the door to the Pediatric ICU center when the sight--or rather lack there-of--of his youngest hit him. How could so many wires and tubes be hooked onto one tiny little girl? Hinata sat by the toddler's side, stroking a lock of hair that seemed to be the only accessible part of the child to touch.

"What happened? How did it happen?" Naruto demanded, his first reaction being anger to cover up his fears. He wanted a person to blame, someone to put under the hospital rather than in it like Hiraki was.

Hinata looked over to Hitomi expectantly. After all, it was Hitomi that had witnessed the event. Hitomi shook her head and backed off a bit, scared that Naruto might blame her.

"Tell him, Hitomi," Hinata commanded.

Hitomi swallowed the lump in her throat, but it didn't do much in ridding her of the issue. "I woke her up and she looked at the plug and stuck her tongue in and got burned and fell over and...and..."

"You let her stick her tongue in there?" Naruto roared, angry with the girl as he advanced on her, backing her into a corner.

"I was too far away!" Hitomi defended herself verbally. "I just tossed water on her! You know how she hates it when I do that! I wanted to be back enough to run away! Tou-san, please, I couldn't!"

Naruto shot out his hand to lift her chin up and look into her eyes. "Never, ever let something like this happen again, Hitomi. You are progressing well enough at school to know how to use your chakra to boost your speed. Use it if anything like that happens again."

"Hai, Tou-san," Hitomi nodded quickly and earnestly.

A messenger skidded to a halt just inside the door as he saw the scene in the room. Hinata waved him over silently, though it took him a little time to realize it was safe to accept the summon.

"I am sorry to come to you here, Lady Hinata," he said, bowing, "but we have news of your sister's team that you and Lord Hokage should hear away from younger ears."

"Hitomi," Hinata caught her family's attention with the one word," watch over your sister now. Consider it your test. Your father and I have business to take care of."

Naruto looked like he had more to say to the girl, but decided against it in favor of obeying his wife for once.

"You're sure they're not being held hostage instead?" Naruto asked Inichima, kicking into village leader mode and completely out of family man mode. "And you're sure it happened at the boarder of Mist, nowhere else on the way between?"

"Hai," Inichima nodded. "A lock of each team member's hair was sent as proof along with the message."

"Hair does not mean heads," Neji said, walking into the office with a few other Hyuuga that Hinata had called on with him.

"My thoughts exactly," Naruto agreed. "Have you alerted the other major clan leaders, Neji?"

"I have sent messengers to them," Neji nodded as he took a seat by his cousin's side. "And Hiraki?"

"Alive," Hinata responded, her face grim with worry about both family members. "Hitomi will take better care of her now. We should focus on Hanabi, Amizu, and Inari now."

Naruto leaned back in his chair, thinking back on the few times he'd played Shoji with Shikamaru, then quickly banished the thought from his mind. It was not war yet, no matter what the message said. The Kage of Mist may not even know of the incident.

&

Hinata knelt down beside her little sister, reaching out to pull her to her feet. "Hanabi, hurry. Inari and Amizu are already heading back."

Hanabi took Hinata's hand and allowed her to pull her up and support her momentarily. "Hinata, nee-chan, arigato!"

The sisters sprinted away from the battle site, Hinata catching Hanabi occasionally as the younger tripped and stumbled, struggling with a wounded knee. Hinata focused on nothing more than protecting her family, watching from every angle with her Byakuugan activated. She could see Kiba off to the left, leading Akamaru who was carrying Inari on his back, limp and without the light of chakra...dead. Amizu ran along beside Shino, cradling a smashed arm and bleeding rapidly from a wound on the back of his head. His own chakra signature was weakened considerably, but enough remained to give Hinata hope.

"This way, Hanabi," Hinata steered Hanabi to the left rather sharply, heading towards where she knew a hidden support team was waiting to make preliminary assessments and healings to the newly recovered team. Kiba and Akamaru had little in the way of a patient to present to their healers, and Shino would be bringing a challenge to Sakura.

&

Sasuke entered the office of the Hokage and casually bowed his head in semblance of submission, a show for the ANBU that followed him into the room. Ino, at his side, trembled a little at the look on Naruto's face. The whisker marks on his cheeks were darker than usual, his nails a little sharper than normal for a human as they dug into the wooden surface of his desk. Sasuke himself was rather tense at the sight, but made no outward indications of it, already possessing the ability to dominate the Kyuubi. What made him uneasy was wondering what could make Naruto so upset.

"What's wrong, Naruto," Sasuke asked, sitting down in one of the visitor's chairs unbidden. "You look angry this morning."

"Stuff it, teme," Naruto snapped. "Ino, sit down already."

Ino's rear hit the chair hard, causing her to wince, but she said nothing else.

"Tell me what you know of aggressive factions that might be around the area Hanabi, Inari, and Amizu were sent to last month."

"I can't say that I know any of them personally," Sasuke answered honestly. "However, I do know of one group that may have taken an interest in the area. Possibly started off by a former associate of mine. They are called River-wash, and have learned to manipulate their chakra in such a way as to do more than manipulate water. Their very bodies must be saturated at all times, so that they can function as water themselves when needed. Fire has no effect against them, earth can only move through them. Air will only separate them minimally. Wood can absorb their attacks, however, and electricity is the only element able of killing them. They kept clear of Taka towards the end of my leadership of the group, scared I'd electrocute the whole lot of them for fun. Probably should have."

"What motivates them?" Naruto demanded, eyes finally moving to meet Sasuke's.

"Hmm?"

"What is their main goal? What do you know of their plans?"

"Nothing, I am afraid," Sasuke spread his hands outwards in symbolic offering of his ignorance to the subject. "I only know that they only ever tried to get in my way once and never crossed my path again since the first mistake."

"I see," Naruto looked over to Ino now, signs of his anger fading away to thoughtfulness. "You and Shikamaru will team with Sasuke and track them down. I want as much information as the three of you can bring me."

"Why us?" Ino asked, eased a bit by Naruto's change of tone.

"Because, as Sasuke said, electricity can kill them. He can do it. You and Shikamaru are just as capable with your techniques. I trust you can mediate between your captain and your husband well enough to keep the peace long enough to complete the mission, yes?"

"Yes, but I--"

"She can't go on any missions at the moment," Sasuke cut her off. "And few others trust me well enough. I'm honestly surprised you can't think of anyone else to send besides us."

"It's not that I can't think of others," Naruto smiled at his one time best friend, "It's that I want to pay your ass for doing something besides sitting on it. Why can't you go, Ino?"

"I..." she blushed, taking Sasuke's hand against his permission. "I'm expecting."

Naruto nodded, understanding. "Perhaps Neji? Kakashi?"

"I believe Neji is just as wary of me yet," Sasuke answered. "I believe Kakashi would be more willing to work with me again."

Naruto smiled, mischief in his eyes. "Oh, but he has, teme. He's been around all day long."

The morning's ANBU tag-along stepped forward and crossed his arms around his stomach, attempting not to laugh at his former student.

"So, you're the one Naruto's sent after me today," Sasuke nodded to Kakashi. "And I suppose that was you yesterday around noon?"

"I wasn't on duty that day, but decided to tag along anyway, yes," Kakashi answered. "Interesting names your wife calls you, by the way..."

"My sex life is none of your business," Sasuke made a rather rude gesture in his old teacher's direction.

Ino's eyes were wide, her jaw dropping ever lower, "You... you saw that? You LISTENED?"

"Enough!" Naruto interrupted, "You leave tonight. I will not send an ANBU guard with you while you are outside of the village, Sasuke, so if you can't hold your own against Neji's issues with you, you aren't worth your name. I expect you to keep things as peaceful between you as possible, however. Nothing worse than what we used to get up to as friends. Ino, do you believe you will need someone to watch your back for the time Sasuke is gone?"

"Like I need that!" Ino retorted, getting a warning hand on her shoulder from Sasuke.

"He has a point," Sasuke admitted. "If you start to show while I am away... Those still angry with me will attack you to kill the child. Extra help would be needed at that point in time."

"But not now, Sasuke," Ino ground out at him.

"No, not at the moment," Naruto nodded in agreement. "You leave at nightfall. Neji will meet you at the gates."

Naruto waited, leaning against the fence, looking at the school he had once attended, lost in memories. His girls would be coming out soon, along with many others. More parents were already waiting. How many of them would be spoiling their children's appetites for a home cooked dinner by sneaking them off to Ichiraku's Ramen, however, was not as easy to predict. Kiba, Naruto saw, was just now walking up the road with Akamaru, no doubt come for his son, Toshimaru. An Aburame woman Naruto was not very familiar with, but knew to be married to and then divorced from Shino about three years after their twin girls were born was already waiting across the street.

"Oi, Naruto," Kiba caught Naruto's attention again. "My wife tells me you've really pissed off the Uchiha this time."

"And Neji, too," Naruto laughed. "At least I'll have Neji off my ass about taking Hitomi as a student after the genin tests, as if she were already guaranteed to pass. He will wait until she passes fairly. Also, I won't have to sit through boring and biased accounts of Sasuke's daily activities twice a day for a while. Their wives should be happy about the work their husbands are getting, too."

"Aren't both of them pregnant?" Kiba asked.

"Yes?" Naruto replied, not understanding where Kiba was going with the question.

"Without Hyuuga Neji and Uchiha Sasuke to pester for their daily wants and new needs and wild cravings and daily toilet clenchings, whom do you think they will pester now?"

The color drained from Naruto's face. Kiba was right. He lived in the same compound with Tenten. Ino came over often to help foster Hiraki's love of gardening. Naruto would either have to pick up on his work in the office, or suffer the consequences at home. What kind of a sentence did he just pass on himself?

Shrill ringing filled the school lawn, announcing the end of the day's lessons. Seconds later, children poured out of the doors like a dam had broken somewhere deep within. Soon, fifteen-year-old Toshimaru was at his father's side, three large breed puppies trailing along behind him.

"Good luck, Naruto," Kiba laughed at the Hokage. "And try not to forget when the tournament begins. We can't hold a test without our Hokage!"

"Sure..." Naruto pulled a face at the man just before his daughter nearly wiped it off for him with a slap. "Oi, Hitomi! Don't do that!"

Hitomi looked at the hand her father had caught and smiled as the bushin puffed out of existence. Hitomi let go of her little sister's hands, allowing Hiraki to drop right onto their father's shoulders and latch onto his hair with fingers still messy from playing around in art class with the finger paints. The ensuing tangle of fingers, hair, and the Hokage screaming like a girl each time he unsuccessfully attempted to dislodge the girl from his shoulders and head sent her into fits of giggles so bad that she nearly fell off the branch.

"That's it, no Ichiraku's today!"

The statement only added slapping to the hair pulling when Hiraki heard it. "Mean Daddy!"

Gritting his teeth, Naruto substituted himself with a log and jumped into the tree behind Hitomi, shoving his eldest child off the branch and into the road. Startled, Hitomi didn't have time to react and hit the dirt face first, the bones in her nose cracking with the impact. Hiraki started to run towards her bleeding sister, only to be hauled up by the back of her shirt to come face to face with her stern faced father. The look on his face was enough to send the seven-year-old into panic. As she struggled to free herself from the outer shirt, Naruto smiled with satisfaction.

"Stop squirming so much and I won't tell your mother what you did today," he teased.

Hiraki gasped, "You wouldn't dare tell her!"

"Are you so sure?" he asked, making his face serious again even though her fear was rather amusing.

"Hitomi, help!" Hiraki's struggling resumed just as her bloody nosed sister stood up again.

"Knock it off, baka, or we'll end up in real trouble," Hitomi scolded, doing her best to keep from crying, her nose stinging with every breath.

Naruto looked over to his eldest again, finally seeing the wound. He set Hiraki back on her feet to get a better look at Hitomi's nose. Pushing it slightly, he brought a couple tears from her eyes. He told her, "Now we have to go by the hospital instead of Ichiraku's. You two had better hope your mother doesn't get word of this through Sakura-chan!"

"The Toddler Song" by Sean Morey:

They call me the toddler

My goal: to kill myself!

They call me the toddler

I'm a suicidal elf

I jump on the bed

And fly off on my head

And you think I am dead

I like to stick my tongue in electrical plugs

I like to suck on rocks and little dead bugs

I like to eat loose change allot

Open my diaper you'll hit the jackpot

I'm the teddy bear that gave you grey hair

I'm your toddler

I'm a little monkey

Pacifier junky

I love Cheerios

They fit in my nose

Penut butter goes far

Into your VCR

Har har har har

Nothing is safe 'cause I like to explore

Mommy has a toy rocket in her drawer

Watch your mouth 'cause I'm learning to talk

And I might tell grandma to F& off!

I'm the little tot that you love a lot

I'm your toddler!


	3. Chapter 3

Alright, bit Author note here: THERE IS LEMON towards the end of this chapter. Also, some of the major plot starts to show through here, although it's surrounded by random family moments. Hope you enjoy. Oh, also, the original story this was written as an explanation to is getting some make overs as I write this one. Don't expect the real thing up for a while yet. Sorry about that.

Anyway: on to the story!

"They plan to attack during the festival of lights," Kakashi reported the moment the tired ninja entered the Hokage's office.

"How many in the attack force?" Naruto asked, skipping any hope of pleasantries the moment he saw the condition of the three men and heard Kakashi's words.

"Fifty trained ninja are among the core team," Kakashi replied.

"And several hundred samurai from unknown countries have joined them," Neji added. "It seems that Neko Konran, as they call themselves, have promised to end the attacks on samurai villages as long as the samurai lend their aid in bringing Mist and Fire into a war and pulling the other ninja countries into the fray."

"Of course that would end the troubles between ninja towns and samurai villages!" Naruto stood up, slamming his hands down on the desk before him. "We would all be too busy fighting one another to worry about their issues!"

"Mist will hold with us," Kakashi said before Naruto could continue. "Neji?"

Neji nodded once at the older man, then turned to his cousin's husband. "I split off from the others for four days in order to speak with their Kage about what we knew at that time. He claims to have similar issues, but on small scale like ours. The attacks there are mainly on villagers, not warriors. He has agreed not to go to war with Fire on suspicions planted by the Neko Konran."

"Inichima!" Naruto called, making sure his voice carried into the waiting area outside the main office.

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Inichima entered, taking a moment to bow before looking Naruto in the eyes.

"I need you to send a message of peace to all the ninja nations, asking them to keep their bonds strong with one another. A group called Neko Konran is attempting to trick us into all out war with one another once more. They have bribed samurai of many villages to join them long enough to attempt their goals and are planning to attack each nation in turn. Go!"

Inichima turned on heel, knowing how to better word the request than his boss. He began writing out letters to send over to communications to be put into codes and sent out at once.

"As for you three," Naruto turned back to his friends, "I want you, Neji and Sasuke, to go home to your wives. They've been pestering me to no end. You, Kakashi, I need to stop by ANBU headquarters and send either Tenzou or Genma here for orders. After that, go take a bath or something, you stink worse than your dogs on their worst days..."

Thankfully for Naruto's pride, Neji and Sasuke were already on their ways when Naruto made his last remark.

Stars shined brightly through the wispy clouds over Naruto's head as he walked home in the evening. The quarter moon was bright enough for him to see without enhancing his eyes with chacra the way Kyuubi had taught him. It was so bright that everything around had a distinct shadow, he noted idly. Studying the shadows of the buildings as he went down the road, he wondered if there really was any need to have the lamps lit, though they were none the less.

While studying the shadows of the buildings, a movement that should not have been there alerted him to the presence of two others keeping pace with him from atop the buildings. Their chakra masked, he could not identify the pair. Naruto paused. They shrank back a little against the roof. He moved on, they followed a bit farther behind. Exasperated with the fact that he had definitely let them know he had seen them, Naruto created fifteen kage bushin around the pair and joined them on the latest building's roof.

"You know it's rather rude to follow me around without asking?" Naruto asked them harshly, the people unrecognisable behind their cloaks and matching masks... not normal ANBU like he would have originally suspected. "I am Hokage. Show your faces to me when I talk to you!"

Neither seemed willing to remove their masks. One reached for a knife, but was stopped by the taller.

"He'll kill you, baka," the taller snapped at the shorter. The voice was slightly familiar, but too muffled by the mask to truly put a name or face with.

"You're right, I will kill you both if I have to, especially if you're a part of Danzou's group," Naruto told them. "If you are a part of Root and do not exist, no one will be offended when you die."

"We were not sent to fight you, Naruto-kun," the taller answered. "I am training him by following you. Stealth lessons."

"You seem to be even worse and example than many said I was," Naruto kept an eye on both, not releasing his bushin. "I saw your shadows several blocks back. Also, if you were just training him for stealth, why try and pull a knife?"

"The same reason as I attacked you at our first meeting," the taller replied for the silent smaller one. "In Root, we must all test one another upon first meetings. This is his first time out from there. He has less knowledge of life the way you see it than I did at that point."

"I see," Naruto now released the bushin. "I know who you are now. Next time, though, I'll punch your face in, Sai. Either quit letting yourselves get caught or stop following me around. I don't like it."

When he arrived home it was to be followed around by his daughter, attacked in the cruelest of ways. Cruelest mostly because he could not kill the attacker to shut them up. Hiraki, obviously, was his daughter after all.

"What's sex, Tou-san?" the little girl asked the second he walked in and changed out of his sandals and into his house shoes.

Naruto froze for a second, wondering how to answer. "Uh... Sex is a designation. One sex is a boy. One sex is a girl. Your sex is girl, like your mother and sister. Mine is boy like Neji-san."

"No, that's just being a boy or a girl," Hiraki looked at him impatiently. "I already know boys are flat chested and have no hips when they get older. I asked what sex is."

"That is what sex is," he replied, sticking to his story. "Don't you remember the paper your mom helped you fill out for that field trip? Didn't it ask for gender?"--she nodded--"And it gave two options... male or female. Basically, boy or girl. Gender and sex are two ways to say the same thing. Just like san and kun say the same thing, just in a different way, but not like chan which is similar but means something different. Right?"

"Oh, I get it! Thank you, Tou-san!" the little girl jumped up into his arms and planted a kiss on his nose. "You really took a long time to tell me, though, you know? I wonder why Kaa-san and Hitomi-nee-chan wouldn't tell me, though. They said they were having an adult talk about sex. You didn't mind telling me though, and I like that."

"Really?" Naruto asked, pasting on a smile even though his mind was running in five different possible directions as to what the woman and girl were really talking about. "Silly Kaa-san and Nee-san!"

"Yeah... like I wouldn't understand that!"

Naruto put the girl back down on her own two feet and sent her off to change for bed, intent now on finding his wife. Asking his daughter would be far too uncomfortable right now. Luckily, he didn't have long to look. Hinata had seen the whole interaction between the two, proud of her husband for taking a potentially troubling experience and turning it into a laughing matter. She certainly hadn't been laughing when the topic came up between herself and Hitomi hours earlier.

"I'm guessing you'll want to know why I wouldn't answer Hiraki right then," Hinata said after being greeted with a kiss on the cheek and a tight hug.

"Hai," Naruto said, sitting down before hitting the floor after whatever answer Hinata would give.

"They started teaching sex-ed to her class last week," Hinata responded, sitting across from him. "She wanted to ask me how bad it hurt to have a baby. If it was really as bad as they showed in the videos. You remember those, don't you?"

"No," Naruto shook his head. "Boys didn't watch those. We had to cary around the mechanical babies, remember? We did them for twice as long as you girls because we didn't have to learn about what it's like to be pregnant... just what it's like to be around a pregnant woman."

Hinata blushed, thinking back on the day when Naruto tried to hand her his doll for safe keeping one day before school. He knew she had been sick, too sick to come to school, and so he made a pitstop at the Hyuuga compound in the morning, thinking it would be easier to get a better grade if the thing wasn't jostled around with him all the time.

"Hey," Naruto placed a hand on hers, "think we learned much from that?"

"I don't think so," Hinata laughed a little. "Though, I must say you did know you weren't very safe as a parent. Especially after that time with Kankurou--"

"Hey, hey, hey!" he cut her off. "I thought we were over that already!"

She didn't answer, finding it much more appealing to watch as he worked himself into a frenzy of attempts to say the right thing, even offering to sleep on the sofa for the night. It was this never-ending quest to make others around him happy and approving of him that Hinata adored Naruto for. Though his self admitted bullheaded nindo had become her inspiration from an early age, she had learned that getting him worked up like this made for more subdued sex later in the night. Naruto never understood why she practically insisted on the recreation every evening after he had a fit like this one. In her mind, he didn't need to.

"Naruto," Hinata stood up and took hold of her husband's arm before he emptied out the pantry looking for something to offer her. "You need to go to bed, rest for a day like you planned. Inichima can handle things for one day for you."

Hinata sent him to the shower before he started trying to replace things in the pantry. She knew from previous attempts he made that things would never end up in the same place or even in any kind of order at all. She had no intentions of letting that happen again.

"Kaa-san, tuck me in!" Hiraki jumped up on her mother's back.

"I can't do that tonight, Hiraki," Hinata patted the girl on her head. "Your father made another mess in here, and we both know your sister is just as bad at putting things where they belong as him."

"Who cares if anything's where it's supposed to go?" Hiraki asked, looking at the minimal disturbance her father had managed to make this time. "All anybody's got to do is look a little while and they can find what they want. Right?"

Hinata knew the girl was right, but having to take the time to look when on a schedule like hers was just a bit more trouble than she could handle some days. "Go find your sister and get her to tuck you in. Your father's a little strung out today. I'm going to get the laundry off his side so it's set when he gets out of the shower."

"But, Kaa-san...!"

"No buts!" Hinata put the girl back down on her own feet. "Go. You're old enough to tuck yourself in by now anyway."

Ignoring her youngest's complaints, Hinata finished her task in the pantry, and she then decided to go ahead and move things off the bed for herself and Naruto. She found that he had already done so, however, and he even turned down the sheets before stretching out and opening up a schedule to check through.

"Put that away!" she ordered. "It can wait for tomorrow night."

"I know..." Naruto sighed, putting it onto his night stand and using his feet to remove his socks. "Girls in bed yet?"

"Hiraki was being stubborn as always," Hinata informed him, setting her bathrobe on the desk chair before sitting cross legged to tug her own socks off. "I told her to get her sister or tuck herself in."

"Heh heh," Naruto smiled and turned over to look at her better. "I bet she didn't like that."

"Of course not," she laid down and allowed him to pull her closer, kiss the top of her head, breathe in her scent. She smiled into his chest, taking in the smells of shampoo, conditioner, soap, aftershave, and something that was just...simply him.

"Kaa-san?"

"Hmm?" Hinata rolled over just enough to look into the doorway, Naruto not wanting to let her move even that much.

Hitomi was redressed in the clothes she had worn to train in earlier that day, panting as if she had run very fast to find them. "Neji-sama and Tenten-sama are at the hospital. Something's wrong with the baby. They said she was in labor!"

"But it's too early yet!" Hinata jumped out of the bed and threw on her bathrobe. Pride was nothing when her family's physical well being was threatened from within, not to Hinata.

An evening in late June came with a dual mentality in Konoha. None of the police and ninja were allowed to enjoy the festival unless ordered off active duty by a physician like in Tenten's case. Even the more advanced students were called on to keep an eye on things while out with their families and friends. For the most part, the police were sent out in pairs to walk designated areas already a part of their usual shifts. The shinobi, however, were split up into their family groups. In the absence of family fit enough to work with, they were paired up with others like themselves--usually good friends or other teammates. Naruto wanted nothing to look our-of-sorts to any attackers from outside Konoha that might come in under the guise of festival goers. It would befit a group ran by missing-nin, just like the infiltration during his own genin tests.

Only the normal amount of shinobi were assigned to guard the boarders, but these were all ANBU instead of the usual people. They were dressed as Chunin and Tokubetsu Jounin like the usual guard consisted of during both day and night, regular work-day and special occasion.

Though the general public had been warned through word of mouth, some were bound to be in the dark about the expected dangers.

"This is not the best of ideas, Naruto," Sasuke told him earlier in the day. "Not protecting them--"

"They are more protected when intermixed with people like us than they are hidden away all together where they can all be killed together," Naruto bit back. "They are more capable than you give them credit for. Besides, when your prey spreads in many directions at once, it's harder to kill them before you are killed by their guards. Isn't that right? Didn't we learn that the hard way?"

Hours later and the two men walked the festival decorated streets with their families, eyes searching while pretending to enjoy themselves.

"Someone's decided to be obvious," Shikamaru gestured with his chin to a booth selling knives. With closer inspection from across the street, Naruto knew what Shikamaru was talking about. Every blade had the same feline face engraved with spirals radiating out from it's open mouth. None were sold to people of Konoha, not that he or Shikamaru could tell. The same money notes were passed from purchaser to vendor. No... They weren't money of any sort he had seen before. And it was a single note, far less than needed to buy weapons of that quality, especially with that sort of detail.

"Or maybe they think that just because our Hokage is a knucklehead that the rest of us are, too?" Sakura tried to smile, balancing her four-year-old daughter on one hip while holding a small shopping basket out of the child's reach with the other arm.

"Knock it off, Sakura," Naruto said bord with the old taunt. "Hitomi should be over by the citrus fruit stand just down that way. Would you get her to take the girls back over to the hospital?"

"Hai," she nodded, changing from mother mode to kunoichi at the blink of an eye. She knew what was on his mind even before he sent Shikamaru and Sasuke both up to pretend to be interested customers. She knew even as she traded her shopping with Ino for the three-year-old Toshimaru that they were going to be giving the subtle signals to other shinobi in the area to help crowd the stand and start asking difficult questions. Her job now was to get the kids out, and alert those not within sight or hearing that they had found one of the bases Neko Konran had already set up and what to look for as their symbol.

A child on each hip, and a third (Hiraki) on her back, she made her way over to where she saw Hitomi and two of her friends deciding on which fruit to test next of the imports.

"Hitomi, time's up," Sakura told her curtly, taking the attention of all five teens away from the fruit. "Take the kids to Tenten's room and stay there. Shizune will be close by. Tell her to keep on a close watch for anyone bearing the symbol of a cat with spirals in its mouth. Got it?"

"Hai, Sakura-san!" Hitomi replied, taking Toshimaru into her arms and giving the girls a look that told them to keep up no matter what. She didn't spare time to tell her friends anything, knowing that they understood just as well as she did what was happening.

"Kyomaru, Mitsurami, Kashin," Sakura looked at three of the remaining four, wondering what they were waiting on. "Where are you supposed to be?"

The boys and girl between them split up to find their families. Toshihiro's father already coming to get the boy.

"Sakura-chan," Kiba greeted, strangely without his large white fur-ball of a companion. "Any luck?"

"She said they already found them, Tou-san!" Toshihiro said before Sakura could answer.

Kiba looked over to the woman in question.

"Get Akamaru soon as you can, Kiba," Sakura nodded. "Then find me and just about every shinobi in the area. We'll all be in about the same spot."

Over at the stand, the "shop owner" was starting to sweat. He could see far more of the Konoha military types around his booth than the people he was supposed to be talking with.

"This is great, isn't it?" Naruto asked Shikamaru with a bold smile as he picked up one of the swords and tested its weight, balance, and edge. "We get so few opportunities to see how other areas have progressed with weapons. It's nice to be able to compare our own advances with theirs, right?"

"And see the symbols people are coming up with," Sai said as he stepped up to the booth, alerted by Kashin a few minutes earlier. "Though I do like the feline form, it does seem odd to be used in a way other than normal art or as a bodily attack... In a weapon, snakes are usually better."

"I have to agree," Sasuke added in a tone that almost sent shivers down the backs of his companions. "Much more sleek and able to maneuver. Longer reach...no claws but that's made up for with the venom hidden within the fangs. I wonder if any of these blades are poisoned like mine? It wouldn't be right to sell them that way when there are children near-by, however. Poison should always come separate."

"Yes," Hinata nodded, gathering her outward courage to speak in the same way she did when mediating with the clan elders. "They still have a higher tendency to cut themselves than their elders. We have to keep their safety in mind, especially with things that aren't seen at first."

"But aren't we teaching them how to be unseen half the time?" yet another voice joined the group, this time Iruka's. "Although, some aren't all that good at it no matter how much you try to help them. Straight forward is the best for many more than we'd like."

"Straight forward is what samurai are for," Naruto said, locking eyes with the lead man behind the counter. "Not even the police in shinobi villages can do as well when fighting in the open."

"That's why even our streets are closer together than in a normal village," Shikamaru said, staring down one of the other two now.

"And why even the weakest person in the village still is able to throw a decent punch, even if they're the weakest of the civilans," Sakura smiled and winked at the third man.

"I wonder what this neko looks like it's trying to eat? Konran, maybe?" Kakashi humped at the design. His odd choice of words set all three men to holding their personal swords, as well as several others near-by.

"Maybe not," Sasuke smiled.

"I'm still going to force feed it to them, though," Naruto gave the signal. The whole tent was destroyed in the following fight. Civillians were rushed out of the way by the police, the gates to the village were closed off. News (and sound) of the battle reached the ears of others on both sides throughout the village. Those not already engaged soon joined the battle.

Naruto nursed the sore, torn muscle in his side by sipping at the gifted sake hidden in the middle right drawer of his desk. Tsunade had warned him not to come back to work right away, but he wanted to get things taken care of instead of lay around at home and be a burden to his wife's family. Not to mention Hiraki still wanted to play nursemaid and check his bandages every fifteen minutes instead of every eight hours like he was told. No, staying at home was a death sentence for the Hokage. Coming to work would--at most--result in another overnight stay at the hospital where people really did check and redress his bandages every eight hours instead of every fifteen. It saved time, money, and many headaches even if it did end up causing a couple more headaches elsewhere.

"Should you really be drinking that in your condition, Hokage-sama?" Inichima asked him after personally delivering pain killers and antibiotics to the pale man before him.

"Tsunade gave it to me," Naruto shrugged, instantly regretting the action and wincing. He quieted the pain with another shot of sake. "Just like she gave me the pills. I think I'll be fine."

"But will you be awake and functional enough to deal with the ANBU who has come to report on the progress with those they're holding?"

"They're here?" Naruto asked, remembering not to move so suddenly as before. Inichima nodded. "Send them in before I pass out, will you?"

"Maybe I should just take down his report and get someone to take you home," Inichima suggested, looking at Naruto with leeriness.

"I said send him in. Send him in," Naruto narrowed his eyes at the man.

"Hai," Inichima shook his head and waved the ANBU man inside the office. A few hours later a second lone visitor, Kakashi, came inside. He left only a few seconds later, hands shaking.

It didn't take long after that for the sake bottle to empty completely, and that bottle wasn't the only one being downed. Kakashi had gone straight to the liquor store on the way home, not bothering with the protests his husband and daughter pelted him with when he opened the glass bottle and pulled down the mask.

Naruto hadn't known any better, thinking only that it would have been a good idea to have one of the top part-time ANBU there in case a break-out was attempted. He certainly didn't want to have anyone clean up the mess, or even order the prisoners to make the mess to begin with, but politics often went directly against personal wants. How was Naruto to know that Kakashi had such an aversion to such things? After all the people Kakashi had killed and seen die, how was this more honorable way of dying so bad to witness?

"My father died by seppuku," Kakashi had whispered, the words carrying clearly with the anger to Naruto's ears. "And now you want me to... Even after what happened in Bird, you still think I can--"

"Then don't," Naruto told him, starting to understand. "If you can't even keep it together knowing that these men will face the same fate, I don't want you anywhere near by when it happens."

The two men looked at one another with blank stares, completely hiding their emotions again, even though everything was laid bare now. Eventually, Kakashi bowed respectfully and thanked him before turning on heel and leaving the room, hands still slightly shaking with the thought of what his former student turned boss had just asked of him.

Naruto was out cold not long after beginning a search for a second bottle. He awoke in a dream world his drunken mind had cobbled up for him. He sat in the office, twiddling his thumbs instead of reading through paperwork and finalizing details. Suddenly, on the other side of the desk, three of the five former Hokage materialised, each of them upset.

"Never in my days did I ever allow any piece of paper to sit on my desk for more than five minutes, Uzumaki Naruto!" the Sandaime shook a finger at him, like an old woman scorning a rowdy child.

"How could you be so insensitive as to ask that of Kakashi?" Tsunade joined in the bombardment. "I know he told you, Neji, and Tenten about the fact that he hated even knowing seppuku was going to take place as a punishment when you were in Bird... He wouldn't have even been there if it were the whole of Akatsuki!"

"Failure," the Yondaime shook his head, placing a palm to his forehead in the process. "I can't believe I gave such power to such a failure."

Something was poking him in his good side now. Something small and finger shaped.

"Hey, Tou-san!"

Naruto opened his eyes, starting to wake again, then waking up completely when he saw that Hiraki was poking him...and getting rougher about it. "Hiraki?"

"Found you!!!!" the girl yelled at the top of her lungs. "Now it's my turn to hide, k?"

"No, sweetie," Naruto shook his head, sitting back up and feeling something soggy on his other side. He knew what it was, mentally kicking himself for forgetting that the Kyuubi was no longer a part of him, unable to heal his wounds. "Right now, Tou-san needs your help to get back to the hospital. I'm not doing so well."

June thirteenth was a decently hard day for Hinata. If taking the family out for a picknick in order to escape the usual hazards of being one of the most influential families in the village sounded like a good thing the night before, she soon learned it wasn't really.

First, Hitomi was called away for training by Neji, and that meant Hiraki would be lonely and needing extra attention. Then, Hiraki let clumsiness get the better of her near the river. Packing up and going home after the child's bruised knees ruined the mood between herself and Naruto, Hinata dared things to go worse. They did.

Dinner was ruined when Neji found them. He was exhausted and unwilling to just wait to give his report the next day or let it stand with Inichima.

"Neji," Naruto fixed the Hyuuga man with a look that said stop, but Neji continued with his rant about the conditions in the place he had been sent to.

"I don't think what we did was enough for them, Naruto. My team and I need to go back soon. Tonight even!"

"Neji, go relax already," Naruto shook his head. "I got the letter you sent on your way back, yes it actually beat you for once... I sent Shikamaru's team to replace you."

"Neji?" Tenten came in behind her husband, obviously more tired than him. "Neji, leave it for the morning. They're not going to fall apart between now and then."

Then came her shower. At some point since the last time she had been in the bath, the heater had broken, meaning it was an ice cold shower or none at all. Taking the cold shower over the grimy feeling building in her scalp, she huddled into thick pajamas and curled up under the covers for the night, waiting only a few minutes for Naruto to finish with the girls before joining her.

Neither was all that sleepy, however, just mentally tired. Lights out, with the only sounds in the room being their breathing and crinkles of sheets with slight movements, and the occasional call from an owl outside, Naruto curled around Hinata's smaller form, unknowingly helping her to release some of the stress built up over the day.

Hinata was in that state of drowsiness where waking thoughts turned into visual and audio playback in her mind. It was just starting to turn into something more absurd, obviously a waking dream when Naruto pulled her back out of it again, his lips touching at the back of her neck in a stolen kiss. At first she thought it was just a dream driven action, as he often did act out things in his sleep that he dreamed about, but only little things like that, a kiss here, an expression there. When he went after the side of her neck, much more aggressively, Hinata knew better than to believe he was out of it.

"Naruto," she let herself whisper his name before leaning back into his warmth with a smile. "What are you trying to do to me?"

"What does it feel like?" he asked just as quietly, running a hand across her side and stomach. "What do you want me to do to you?"

"I was trying to sleep," she told him turning over to face him instead of backing up her words by keeping her back to him.

"But you weren't getting a drop," he added, then pressed his lips into hers, gently running a hand over her hip. "So, why not take another stab at a decent evening together? Why not have at least this much?"

"Sounds good as long as neither of the girls decide to interrupt just because of Kami's spite," Hinata told him, then returned one of his kisses.

"Don't give them ideas," Naruto warned her, running his fingers up under the hem of her gown, already starting to push it up her body.

"Yeah, that was a bad idea," she agreed, running her own hand across his bared chest and stomach before allowing him another kiss, this one much deeper, but more tender and slow than the few before it.

Every touch was gentle, even as their individual needs grew. It was a slow process of touching, caressing, kissing, and massaging. He let her signal each advancement, not pushing, just encouraging barely enough when he felt like it was time. Sometime after she began stroking at his thighs and groin, he stopped her every movement with a touch of his fingers between her thighs, gaining a contented moan in response. He took the opportunity to move above her, get her on her back.

Rubbing in the same area again, Naruto smiled along with Hinata. Things really were looking up for them after all. He moved his lips down to her sculpted stomach, marveling at how she had bounced back from each pregnancy so that she retained her former structure so beautifully, a Kunoichi before all of her other positions always. He wondered how anyone could think he still sent her out with her team as a whole on regular missions just because she was his wife and wanted them. Actually, he wanted her home more, home where he knew she was safe from all but her family's needs and bickering. She fought him tooth and nail, supported by Shino and Kiba, to be returned to the occasional mission as a break from family issues. It wasn't until she was so angry at being pushed back and out matched him in a battle or words that he let her go on her first mission since he became Hokage, and those occasional missions had kept her toned and trim...just the way he had first fallen in love with her.

He dipped his tongue into her navel in mock intercourse, tickling her into a fit of light giggles. Although the laughter was music to his ears, Naruto knew she didn't really want to be laughing as much as she wanted to continue their earlier activities. So, he returned to more serious actions such as caressing her inner thighs again, kissing the lines where her legs met her body. Hinata's legs came up so that her ancles hooked over his upper back, urging him onwards silently. Knowing what it was she wanted, Naruto dipped his tongue into her slit a few times, changing her breathing dramatically even as her core dampened with pre-orgasm fluids that began to coat his tongue and lips.

Satisfied that she was more ready than he was, Naruto moved back up her body until the tip of his penis was pressed into her hip and he could meet her eyes again. She shifted, bringing her hips into such a position as to force him to feel her dampnes against his groin even as she attacked his lips a little more aggressively than anything she would dare do in public. Hinata shifted again, knowing he wouldn't just give in to her wants so easily. She shoved him off of her and onto his back, taking her turn on the top now.

Hinata gave him no warning of her actions, just simply slipped him inside of herself with one thrust and then began teasing his sides, stomach and thighs with her fingertips.

Not one to be dominated for long, Naruto shifted them both so that he was sitting on the edge of the bed, supporting her in his lap as he kissed at her throat and encouraged her hips to move against him. Slowly she built up the motion, only thrusting lightly at first. With a little more pushing, he had her riding him faster and then took advantage of her distraction to flip her back on her back again and stop all motion a second time. His fingers were back at the front of her slit, rubbing at the sensitive and engorged flesh mercilessly. He didn't stop until she started to close in around him, and that's when he hit her with faster, deeper strokes, finishing her off just after he himself poured out into her body.

Naruto struggled to hover above her and watch her face change from desperation to content. This was one of his favorite kind of moments to share with her, the moments when there was nothing but pure emotion and touch that could communicate their thoughts. When Hinata opened her eyes to him, a small gasp followed.

"Are you alright?" Naruto asked, afraid something was very wrong. She had never reacted like this before.

"I felt it again," she told him, reaching up a shaking hand to touch his face. "I didn't know what it was the first time, and it was strange to feel it the second time, but I know what it is now."

"What is it?" he asked, looking her over quickly in confusion.

"Naruto, I'm pregnant again." she whispered, smiling.

"You think so?" he asked, wondering if it were possible. Although not nearly too old for having another child, it had been hard for her to get pregnant with Hiraki after complications with Hitomi. After Hiraki, things looked even less likely for them to have a third child, especially with two miss carriages behind them now. He was excited at the thought, but tried not to let his hopes show too much. This one would very likely end up like the last two.

"Yes," she nodded, moving one of his hands over her abdomen. "I can feel it just there. Naruto it feels like Hiraki and Hitomi did, not like the other two. It is stronger."

"I hope so, Hinata-chan," Naruto leaned in and kissed her once more, rubbing his thumb over her belly as if he could reach in and touch the child already.

A screech from down the hall grated on Hinata's nerves as she returned from council one morning. It was soon followed by Hiraki running into her arms and blubbering something about her eyes. So frightened was the child that Hinata couldn't understand what she was saying at first. When the words "black and white" came up, she started to understand.

"Stop," Hinata pushed the girl away. "You said you saw in only black and white?"

"Yes," the girl nodded quickly. "Kaa-san, please tell me I'm not going blind. Am I?"

"I highly doubt it," Hinata grinned down at her. "Do you think you can make it happen at will?"

"What?"

"What was on your mind when it happened?" Hinata asked, leading the girl to sit down with her. "Did you wish you could see what someone was doing right then? Another girl that stole away Toshimaru for a moment, maybe?"

"How did you know...?"

"Is that a yes?" Hinata asked knowingly.

Hiraki blushed and looked down.

"Do it, Hiraki. Look at me but really want to see him or that girl again. I need to see your eyes when you do it."

The girl did as she was told. Hinata could see the emotions playing out on the girl's face, and as they got stronger, something changed in her eyes. The irises flashed milky white for a couple seconds, confirming what Hinata had thought.

"It happened again, Kaa-san, but this time I couldn't see you..." Hiraki said, closing her eyes in fear. "I saw the road. What's going on with me?"

"You silly little one," Hinata pulled the girl over in a tight hug. "You don't even know what a miracle you really are, do you?"

"Kaa-san, let go, you're smothering me in your boobs again!" Hiraki struggled away from her mother. "Just tell me what it is!"

Hinata leaned in and kissed the girl on her nose before whispering, "You basically just used the Byakuugan."

"But I don't have it!" Hiraki told her defiantly.

"You have something like it," Hinata told her, standing up again and holding her hand out for her to take. "Come on, we should show a few people. You might be able to succeed me after all because of this!"

"But I thought Kyomaru was going to lead the Hyuuga after you, Kaa-san."

"Only because you and your sister weren't born with Byakuugan like he was," Hinata told her. "This can change everything."


	4. Chapter 4

Neji corrected the position of Hitomi's hand over her sister's chest, "Slightly higher, and you could stop the entire flow to her left side. And here"--he moved it again--"you can stop up three hubs that controle each lung and the heart. But, if you hit just to this side"--another adjustment--"you will boost flow to all vital systems. This can be used to overload certain areas if other key points are pushed within three seconds of this one."

"There's so much to remember..." Hitomi groaned.

"Hey, at least you're not being used as the model," Hiraki replied, hoping her sister didn't strike out from annoyance.

"Shut up, you'll get your turn," Hitomi grumbled, allowing Neji to adjust her hand again.

"Flow to left side. Lungs and heart. Boost to vitals. Understand?" Neji asked, ignoring the conversation between the girls.

"Hai, sensei," Hitomi nodded.

"Neji-sama!" a girl of a farther branch than Neji panted as she bowed. "Gomen, but Hinata-sama sent me."

"What is it, Tasai?" Neji asked, stepping away from the girls to hear the soft spoken girl.

"She is going into labor, sir," she answered. "She was speaking with the elders to prevent them from branding Kyomaru-sama with the branch seal when it happened."

"Have any been sent to Naruto?" Neji asked, anxious about both topics the boy had brought up.

"I was to find him as soon as you were notified that the meeting did not reach completion, Neji-sama," Tasai replied, still bowed.

"Then hurry," he dismissed her, watching as she took off at a sprint before turning to Hitomi and Hiraki. "Ready for your sister?"

"Uh... that's not a girl." Hiraki noted, seeing her very male sibling when he was placed into their mother's arms for the first time, still naked.

"But we only have girl's clothes for him!" Hitomi moaned. "Now what?"

"Now he gets Kyomaru's hand-me-downs instead," Tenten told them, a hand on each girl's shoulders as she stood behind them in the overhead viewing area usually reserved for medical students. This time it had been given over to the family and friends that wouldn't fit into the make-shift delivery room, though even this larger area was still nearly overflowing with people both of the Hyuuga clan and otherwise.

"And we only had girl names picked out," Hiraki added. "Kaa-san and Tou-san told us we could chose this time, and they'd make it official if they liked it."

"What would you have named your sister, then?" Tenten asked, curious to hear.

"Yasashii," Hiraki told her.

"I wanted it to be something stronger, like Kiso," Hitomi added.

"KIso is a good name for a boy, too," Tenten said, watching as Naruto was allowed to take the child from Hinata's arms, dumbfounded look on his face.

"Doesn't matter, Kakashi-san gets to pick a name for him now. That was the deal. We can just pray he doesn't pick Jiraiya."

Tenten gave a mock shudder at the thought.

Down below, though, where only Naruto was allowed in the room so-far, the discussion over the baby's name wasn't being held.

"Hey there, little buddy," Naruto said to the loud and rather blond baby in his arms. "Don't be scared. No one's going to hurt you here, not while your Kaa-san and I have you in our arms. We'll protect you, and love you, and we'll teach you everything we can. You'll be just as brave as your sisters one day. People will look up to you. I promise you."

In the second observation room, Kakashi heard the words and was hit with the memory of many years past when Naruto was born. His father had said something similar to the crying baby then. Minato had promised Naruto that people would see him as strong and worthy. He promised Naruto that he would give him the strength he needed to protect himself because he loved him and knew that neither he nor Kushina would be there for him. He told Naruto to be brave and be somebody to be looked up to all his life.

It had taken most of Naruto's current number of years to obtain that trust from the village. Then again, a bit of foolishness and stubbornness had granted Naruto the unerring respect and following of Konohamaru, and Konohamaru had only ever looked at one other person like that...Sandaime.

Kakashi knew it would be better to just pick out some random name for the child, but Naruto or Hinata one would know that it was grabbed out of thin air. He and Jiraiya and so many others had told Naruto his father's name was Arashi over and over again, but he just couldn't bring himself to lie again. It had been long enough, and Naruto was the one calling most of the shots now, anyway. If Kakashi told them to name the child Minato, Naruto might get the message. Sure, he'd wonder at first, but the similarities might kick him at last.

"Hitomi, Hiraki, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto looked up, trying to find them through the glass. "Are you coming in here or what?"

Naruto had all the files on Namikaze Minato sent directly to his desk a couple days later, especially any mission reports he had written or been mentioned in by Jiraiya. Inichima openly worried about what Naruto was looking for, wondering out loud if it might have something to do with shinigami pacts like the ones Sandaime and Yondaime had died for, or if it was something else entirely--such as the roots of rasengan, even though Naruto already knew most of it from Jiraiya.

"I want to know who my sensei is asking me to name my son after," Naruto fixed the man with a look of discontent. "Is that too much to ask?"

"He was in the school books when you were in the academy, Hokage-sama," Inichima rolled his eyes. "And I'm sure they've told you stories about him, just using a different name, right? What more do you want?"

"Everything I can get my hands on," Naruto replied, already back into his reading of a particularly interesting mission Yondaime had lead Kakashi on nearly thirty years prior to the very date Naruto sat reading the story.

_Kakashi might actually be leading Rin on a bit now, and that worries me_, the journal style mission summery stated. _He's made many efforts, though, to slip off with Obito. I wonder if the boys are plotting something against Rin as a way to show her how her foolishness is getting in the way of her work. I hope not. The last time Kakashi simply told her outright what he thought of her, Rin nearly killed Obito when he tried to comfort her from Kakashi's version of the harsh facts. If only Kakashi could see how much stronger love can make someone, though, I think he might give her a break. As it is, Kushina may be pregnant. It is the second time we've had our hope restored. The first girl did not survive. But that is a different subject._

_As far as the actual mission, Obito and Rin did well. They worked efficiently and quickly. Kakashi, however, was bored by the assignment. He took it upon himself to make absolutely sure every dish Rin stacked was perfect, and that Obito could recall every ticket perfectly without "cheating" by using his sharingan. When he saw that Obito was cheating, however, he took it upon himself to grab every order and read it out to Obito before shredding it and making him call it back to him for confirmation._

Naruto was thankful the man he knew Kakashi to be was different from the boy his father spoke of in the report. Child Kakashi had been cruel to his teammates. It was almost Gai-cruel, but in a cooler way.

"Learn anything useful, Naruto?" Kakashi asked from the window where he perched as always.

"That you were an ass, I should have had at least one sister, and he liked to get off onto tangents about love and families," Naruto replied, setting the report back on his desk a second time. "What did you think I'd find?"

"This," Kakashi handed over a folder.

Opening up the mission report without looking at the date, he saw his own handwriting inside. "What's this about?"

"Read it."

"Fine," Naruto stuck his nose into his own handiwork. _ That's when Hinata came to our rescue! She was so calm when she faced the woman that I didn't believe it could really be her for a moment. Shino got us out of the wax stuff pretty quickly while Hinata held off the bees on her own. She moved so fast I doubt even Kakashi-sensei could keep up with her. She was awesome!_

_Oh, and you won't believe what she did to me when we got back and had to track down the impostor team! I got the back pack back on and was going to tell them the good news. She didn't realise it was me, though. The next thing I remember is waking up to Akamaru licking my face and Hinata crying about hitting the wrong person. I never want to hear her cry like that again. She's too sweet, even for a supercool kunoichi. She might even be cooler than Sasuke!_

"See any similarities?" Kakashi asked.

"The tangent parts?" Naruto guessed.

"Exactly, as well as emotions shining through, even though they're not explicitly stated like in Yondaime's."

"I meant every word, and it was all relevant."

"Not her crying, or how it made you feel," Kakashi corrected. "The subject remained the same, but the time jumped in yours where as the time jumped because of a related subject in his. Naruto... What I'm saying is this; you've got your mother's fire and ways about doing things, but everything else is all Namikaze Minato about you. To know your father, you can just look at yourself."

"You really think so?" Naruto asked, wanting to believe him.

"I know so," Kakashi answered. "Jiraiya-sama and I never lied to you about what we said your father did, whether we called him your father or not at the time."

"But he's going to be so different," Naruto looked down at the papers, wondering if they were truly useless now. "My son, I mean."

"Why do you say that?" Kakashi asked, standing upright in the room now, stretching weary muscles. Age was just starting to catch up with him, it seemed.

"Because..." Naruto's head snapped up now, a very different emotion on his face. "They want him to replace Kyomaru now since he ended up with true Byakuugan. And that means rougher times for Kyomaru as well as my daughters. Just because of his eyes, Kakashi! With everything they'll expect of him because of that one characteristic difference he has from them, I don't know that he'll end up anything like me or my father the way the girls have. Do you understand?"

"Not really, no," Kakashi answered honestly. "The Inuzaka clan completely shut Mitsurami out because they refused to believe her mother really was alive. Even then, Rin was not closely related to the main branch of Inuzaka, so issues like that were very unlikely to affect her."

"But could you just pretend for a moment? Pretend she was that close to them, and that they wanted to controle every aspect of the way she was taught even if it went against your beliefs and practices? What if, even using your influence as Hokage, you couldn't stop them from putting a potentially killing seal on your daughter's head?"

"I'd probably kill the bastards that wanted it done," Kakashi told him. "No one would get the chance."

"But if I dared try something like that--hell even if someone else went ahead and did it I'd be blamed. Hinata is strong against them, and I'm not exactly a saluting fan myself. The law is the law, Kakashi, and the law can get the right person now and then. With things pointing right at us like that, it would be no wonder if Konoha needed a new Hokage very quickly. I need to see if my father had any idea of what he really was doing. If he had any answers to pass on without realising, I need to find them."

"So, it really isn't about naming your son," Kakashi sighed, trying to lighten the mood.

"No, he'll be named Minato, but we're still fighting over whether it's Hyuuga Minato or Uzumaki Minato or something in the middle. All because of his eyes. It's disgusting."

"You are Hokage. You can step in and take him away from the clan if you need to, and it can be done with no reason other than for the boy's safety. And you can place him into the care of the Hokage indefinitely and just never get back to them on it again."

Naruto snickered. "Have him in the Hyuuga compound right where they want him, but they can't touch him since by order of Hokage he is not a part of the Hyuuga clan. It almost sounds like something Shikamaru might come up with after a few days, but you came up with it only a day after he was born... No wonder why I keep you on the pay roll, sensei."

Konohamaru carried a baby in each arm, much like several others around him as they fled to the mountain. Most of the others, though, were civillian, and he needed his hands free to defend them as they ran. The boys' mothers, though, were already called away to fight, and their fathers... Well, he was the father of one, so he definitely wasn't going to cuss himself out about it. Naruto wouldn't be yelled at later, either, for his son. Hiraki would, though. Instead of carrying her little brother to safety as she had been ordered, the girl had taken off after her sister to fight. There was no time to turn around at pull the girl back with him, so Konohamaru kept moving forward, thirteen-month-old boy on his right hip and four-month-old in a carrier in his left hand.

"Konohamaru-sensei! Konohamaru-sensei!"

He looked back behind, pausing when he saw that it was Hiraki running back his way again. "Hiraki?"

"I can't find Kaa-san or nee-chan!" Hiraki told him, worried.

"Good, then take Asuma and follow me like you were supposed to to begin with," Konohamaru handed his own son over, realising that his boy was old enough to deal with the girl's less agile ways than her brother was.

Hitomi and Hinata saw the exchange between the two from a distance away, glad to have gotten the girl back on the proper course without yelling at her. Mother and daughter took off again for the East wall.

Hiraki spent a day wondering about the distant sounds from below, cooped up with many other children and most of the non-combative civillians and watched constantly by the school teachers. Seven-years-old and she was already playing mother. Her brother was a burden she wasn't ready to take on, and she wished fervently to see her mother again. If her mother was safe, that meant she and Minato were safe. If she and Minato and their mother were safe, it was a good bet her father and sister were, safe. And, if they were safe, the village would be. That was what her father had told her when she was three. She still believed in it as if it were a natural law.

Eight days later, the number of teachers and civillian protectors were cut in half from the mountain safety. The other half called back into the village. Eight days after that, students like herself were beginning to be called out, but only those with older siblings already in the battle or none to speak of. Next came those that had younger siblings only three days later, but younger siblings that could look after themselves. Hiraki didn't even have Konohamaru to look to anymore. Instead, she was put in charge of both Minato and the older baby, Asuma.

An elderly woman took up with them for a while, teaching Hiraki how to hold her brother properly since he wasn't as strong as the Sarutobi boy yet. She took shifts with Hiraki, too, allowing the girl more rest than before. After the first day, Hiraki realised that the woman had explicitly avoided telling her her name.

"Obaa-san, why won't you tell me who you are?" Hiraki asked, holding the bottle to her brother's mouth while the elderly woman fed Asuma.

"Because I'm not here to make friends," the woman replied. "I'm here because I'm just too weak to fight anymore, even though it's where I want to be."

"Were you out there before you found me?" Hiraki asked, wondering if she could tick off people in her mind to narrow down the possibilities through other means.

"Yes," the lady replied, sighing in frustration, though not at Hiraki. "I gave it everything I had without dying. I'm finally just too old, though, and your father and I got into it. So, here I am, making sure you don't get too worked up about other things while you're supposed to be watching these two."

"Uzumaki Hiraki!" a voice called out to the group the girl sat with. "You're to join in at the East wall along with Aburame Miko and Rock-Haruno Rinko. Find Sarutobi Konohamaru and get your instructions there."

"Go," the elder woman told Hiraki, "I can take care of them. They won't be calling me back out."

It had been twenty-eight days since she'd last seen her family, or anyone outside the stronghold. She didn't even know what time of day it was anymore before walking out into the bright afternoon sun and spotting Rinko and Miko waiting for her. Or, was it the morning sun? No, it was on the west side, making it afternoon. Konoha was burning here and there, a few buildings demolished.

Naruto shoved his way through the ranks of men, woman, and children defending the East wall. News has reached him five days before that his middle child had been seen fighting there along with her mother, sister, Konohamaru, and two other children about her age. Yes, he had ordered that some of the more advanced students be called out to help, but he had never thought it would come down to the average ones, too. As far as he remembered, her grades remained only slightly above average. Hiraki should not have been called out to fight, and who was watching Minato?

Here the attacks had been their worst, and the defenders had been pushed back into the village many times before struggling to regain even a part of their ground in twice the time they had lost all of it. Only now did he have the chance to get to the line, though, thankfully, that line had been restored at the wall proper rather than somewhere near it.

"Hokage-sama, over here!" someone called to him up ahead, waving an arm and making a target of himself. It was a civillian proficient in the art of kendo he remembered personally asking to aid the fight the month before when the first wave hit. The man had proven invaluable when it came to defending against the many samurai attackers. Naruto hurried his way, knowing that what the man had to say was probably more important than checking in on favored shinobi.

"What is it?" Naruto asked, skipping any niceties.

"Look here," the man handed him a telescope. "I didn't think anything of it at first, possibly a flock of birds or something, but look closely. It is a large number of shinobi. I don't know if they're friendly or not, though."

Naruto's lips curled into a smile. The brief flash of a woman he saw coming their way looked somewhat familiar, and wore a sand hitai-ate. "Gaara is sending help. Kaze knows we're in trouble here."

"Then it's good news," the man joined in the first real smile either man had in over a month. The morning wasn't over, nor was the fighting, but there was some hope.

Many, many names were added to the memorial stone. A second stone had to be added to compensate for the overflow. Even a couple names from the Sand shinobi were placed on the stones, at the end of the list but no less thought of by the people there. It was the first time ever that shinobi of another village would be placed there, and possibly the last. Everyone hoped it was the last time any names were placed into those stones, but they also knew it was an empty hope. There would always be another name to add to the list.

Naruto left the ceremony as soon as the official parts were done with, heading straight for the hospital and to his wife. There he found that she already had a few visitors, but he didn't care. It was his wife, and that was his son she was holding. He had more right to be there than the others, even more than Neji or Hiraki or Hitomi, he thought for the moment. But it wasn't any of their family that knocked him over when running into the room from behind him. He didn't even know the boy.

"Kimagure, watch where you're going!" a man told the boy off as he walked in more calmly. "Just because you're in a hospital doesn't mean it's alright to get hurt or to hurt someone else."

"But I have to see them, Tou-san!" the brown haired boy replied, avidly studying Hinata and Minato, putting Hinata in a nervous state when he did not take his eyes off hers even to blink.

"It's not like we don't have kekke genkai that show up in similar ways at home," Kankurou grabbed the boy's collar and pulled him back to give Hinata some air. "Now back off the woman and tell the Hokage you're sorry."

"Ho...Hokage?" Kimagure turned his eyes over to Naruto as Naruto picked himself back up off the floor where the boy had put him.

"Hi, Kankurou," Naruto waved wearily at the other man. "I take it this is your son?"

Several minutes later, and many more questions later about Hinata and Minato's eyes from Kimagure, the father-son pair left the family in peace. Hitomi stopped by with her sister sometime later. In the meantime, though, Naruto just held his son and marveled at the changes that had happened in the month they had been apart. To most, the changes were small, barely noticeable. To him, however, they were drastic.

"He's underweight," Hinata commented, taking the child back for yet another feeding. "I wonder what happened that they couldn't feed him properly."

Naruto didn't tell her what the reason was. If she didn't notice how much younger so many of the people defending Konoha were, she didn't have to know. He knew there hadn't been enough people to go around in the safety of the mountain to properly care for every child still remaining. Hinata would be very upset about it, and she would show it more than he did. He didn't stress her about it now, knowing she'd probably find out later on anyway.

"I have to go, Hinata," Naruto said after looking at the clock several times in only a few minutes. "It's time."

"You're really are going to promote them then?" Hinata asked, a touch of fear in her voice.

"I have to," he replied, standing up. "We've lost so many, and they just made it through worse than what has killed others in the past. They're ready, and Konoha needs them. Their teachers agree."

"Even Hitomi?"

Naruto nodded. "I can't keep her back just because we want to keep her safe. Besides, Neji will be teaching her officially now. He specifically asked to be her teacher."


	5. Chapter 5

Well, here's where the story takes a major downturn. I also just realized how AU this has gotten since it was first typed up, and that's why

It has taken so long to be posted. Anyway, Warnings for this chapter are as follows:

Character Death; Animated Corpse; Implied Torture

"Tou-san, why are you crying?"

Naruto was caught. By a three-year-old no less.

"Are you sad, Tou-san?" Minato questioned, putting his small hand on Naruto's knee.

"Nope," Naruto replied, smiling while even more tears fell. "I just can't believe the look on Sasuke's face when he saw what I did this morning..."

"What did you do?" the child asked, confused. "Did it hurt and that's why you're crying?"

"No," Naruto shook his head. "I just laughed so hard I cried is all. I think you might like it, though. Want to see?"

"Yes!" the boy jumped up and down happily.

"We'll have to hurry, or someone will be trying to clean it up before you see it right," Naruto told the child, swinging him up onto his shoulders before walking out of the garden and into the streets.

"Where are we going, Tou-san?" Minato asked, bouncing happily on his new perch above the heads of almost all others around.

"To my work," Naruto answered, "The best view is from the roof there."

"So, it's up really high?"

"Yep."

Father and son drifted through the market and comercial areas with ease, taking their time despite what Naruto had said earlier. Most faces were level or turned down, but his were up at the mountain ahead and the faces carved there. From the base of the tower, Naruto jumped upwards, securing Minato by the child's legs for the landing onto the roof. Minato saw full on what his father had done.

Four of the six likenesses carved into the mountainside were colored with bright, fresh paint. Shodaime and Nidaime were left blank and normal, since Naruto had not known them in any form, or was ever known by them. Sandaime's face was colored in along with age spots even though it had been carved while the man was still in his prime condition. Godaime was colored much the same as she kept her appearance to be, even though Naruto knew different, so he put extra purple diamonds here and there as a tease to the old woman. On Yondaime's face, Naruto added a colorful swirl to each cheek, mirroring them on his own face rather than coloring in the whisker marks that Kyuubi had branded him with upon sealing.

"Hey, Tou-san, that looks really good!" Minato smiled, forgetting to ask what was so funny about the scene. "I don't think baa-chan would like seeing so many purple dots, though."

"Me, neither. Maybe it'll actually get her to come over for dinner, though. What do you think about that?" Naruto asked the child.

"I think you shouldn't be eating dinner with us tonight," Minato replied knowingly, then took in a quick breath as he realised something. "Hey, Tou-san, you sure look a lot like the guy on the far right!"

Children were precious for a reason.

"That's because that face is supposed to look like me, Minato. Every Hokage that's ever been is carved up there."

"Wow... so then... who's the other blond man?"

"That's Yondaime Namikaze Minato," Naruto answered. "He's where Kakashi-sensei got the idea for your name."

"But you told me I was named after your Tou-san!" Minato smacked a hand on Naruto's head lightly. "You lied to me!"

"I did not!" Naruto retorted, taking the child off his shoulders very fast before any hair-pulling could follow. "You are named after my father. Oh...wait...you don't know yet, do you?"

"Know what?" Minato asked in a whisper as if sharing some well guarded secret with Naruto.

"They're the same person. Your grandfather is Yondaime, and you know what that means?"

"What?" Minato moved in closer, eyes as wide as his smile.

"You have to work very hard and become the eighth Hokage. When Konohamaru steps down, he's gotta give it to you!" Naruto pointed a finger at his son's chest. "You promise me you'll work extra hard when you get in school, and that you'll become so strong that you'll be the only choice. Got it?"

"But why can't you just make me Hokage after you, Tou-san?" Minato asked, not understanding.

"I made Konohamaru a promise that if he worked really hard, he would be Hokage after me. I'm not going to break that promise, because he made me a promise he'd do it, too. I want you to promise me that you'll keep our family on top, though."

"But what about Hitomi-nee and Hiraki-nee?"

"They have other dreams, Minato. They're girls."

"So is Kaa-san."

"Yes, so is Kaa-san," Naruto laughed softly. "Kaa-san practically runs a village by herself at home, doesn't she?"

Minato nodded. "And they want me to do it, too, one day."

"I want you to do what you want to do, though," Naruto told him, realising that what he'd asked of the boy moments before was wrong of him. "I don't care if you don't become Hokage ever, or even if you take over your mother's clan. I couldn't care less if you wanted to be a garbage man. As long as you end up doing what you dream about doing, and you do it right and well and people respect you for doing it, that's all I want for you."

"I want to be like Baa-chan," Minato replied, pointing up at the image of Tsunade on the mountain. "She was the best. She still is."

"What makes you say that?" Naruto asked, not understanding.

"She's still alive even though she's not Hokage anymore," Minato said in a "duh" tone.

"You're shooting higher than the moon on that one, kid," Naruto ruffled the boy's hair, bringing out an angry glare. "Hey, it's not like you combed it anyway, right?"

.

.

.

Hinata awoke to a cold bed for the first time in over three years, Naruto gone the whole night. He hadn't sent her word of anything that would keep him out so long, and she definitely hadn't spoken with him about any reason he might be gone for so long without notice. Still, if anybody knew anything, they would have told her not to worry, but it seemed like nobody even realised it yet. Not even Hitomi noticed anything out of the ordinary at breakfast.

Tenten caught her pacing in her bedroom an hour after the children had been sent off to school.

"Hinata, what's wrong?" Tenten said, halting the quick, worried pacing only by putting her hands on Hinata's shoulders.

"He's not here," Hinata told her flat out. "I haven't seen Naruto since yesterday morning. He never came home last night. Nobody's said anything about him working on anything, and he wasn't supposed to go to Kaze for another month yet."

"I'm sure he's fine, Hinata," Tenten tried to sooth her. "Maybe he got drunk with Tsunade-sama and stayed the night with her or something."

"That's not like him, Tenten. He always sends word if he's going to miss even part of a meal. Always."

"Come on, I'll bet you he's passed out, head on his desk and drooling on paperwork and Konohamaru's son has drawn all over his face by now."

Truth be told, it was Inichima that was asleep at his desk, and both Sarutobi Asuma and Uzumaki Minato were drawing on his face. Naruto, however, was still nowhere to be found. The women blamed Inichima's exhaustion on the Hokage's absence and asked him to fill in what blanks he could, but the man did little to help. He said he hadn't seen Naruto in the past day, just like Hinata, and he thought that Naruto was taking a day off without warning. Yet, every time he'd done that in the past, he'd always left a note on the desk or dropped by later. There was no note, and Naruto definitely hadn't dropped by.

"Don't touch anything!" Hinata warned everyone when they went into the Hokage's office, scooping up her son in the process to keep him from doing it anyway. She scanned the room carefully, and almost missed something important when Minato started to struggle in her arms. Blood on the floor and back wall by the baseboards. She shoved Minato into Inichima's arms and moved over to the pooled up area, finding a dead man laying in it. More of it was streaked through, as if someone had been down and picked up enough to drag out the window. Naruto's wedding band was in that streak. She knew it was his by the engraving of her name on the outside of the band rather than another inscription on the inside as was more traditional.

"Oh, Kami!" Hinata turned back to Inichima and Tenten. "Take Minato home, Tenten. Inichima, get hold of everybody you can. Go!"

"Kaa-san, what's going on?" Minato asked over Tenten's shoulder as he was traded from the man to the woman rather quickly. "Where's Tou-san?"

"Hush, Minato," Tenten told him as they practically ran out of the tower. "Nobody but who your mother says can know what's happened. You don't want to scare everybody, do you?"

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Light, a small beam of it. It was the first light he remembered seeing since...he didn't remember. It was the moon shining through the trees. Another beam fell onto a bloody hand. He saw that it was his own, but something was missing. He wasn't sure what at first, but then he noticed how it felt like that missing something was centered between his pinky and middle fingers... He was missing his ring, the one with her name on it. Had they stolen it? He didn't care. The ring wasn't what mattered; she was.

Naruto felt for something, anything, to grab and help pull him up. Pain was nothing any longer, but the weakness was there in full force. He had to move, though. Something smelled bad here, and he would have puked had there been anything in his system to heave out. He remembered then, that they had fought one another over his things, even his body.

Most of them had killed one another, and then there was someone else in the dark. Someone he felt was familiar, but would not show his face or say a word to indicate who he was. That man killed the last person still standing then walked off calmly, leaving Naruto to die or live by his own will alone.

It was the bodies, Naruto realised then, that he smelled. It had been at least a day, maybe two, since the phantom of a man had come and gone. It had definitely been a day since he'd gotten free of the ties they'd used to keep him to the metal slab. This was the second time he remembered seeing the night sky. The main problem now was figuring out which way to go and how to get the energy to go there.

There had been no food kept in the underground rooms, so he had assumed there was a structure above where it was made and brought in. He was wrong, though there was a stream near-by, he saw now. Much stronger on elbows and knees for the time being, he crawled over to the water and drank greedily. They hadn't fed him anything, and the only water he received was just to keep him alive. He didn't even feel the hunger anymore, just the thirst. Had he seen the body lying in the water upstream of his position, he never would have even tried to drink it right there. He would have pushed himself upstream a ways. Yet, the dark shrouded everything, and the poison-like fluids and other materials coming from the body were tasteless to his deadened senses. He just wanted the water.

Sometime later, he woke up near a fire. The warmth he felt was the first in a long time. Who had built it, though?

"He's awake!" someone said excitedly from a direction he couldn't see without tipping his head back. That motion hurt even before he tried it, so Naruto kept his head right where it was, on top of someone's rolled up clothing.

"Naruto-san," a man's voice said from above him, on the side opposite the fire...left side. "Can you hear me?"

"Who...?" Naruto could barely speak.

"We can't move you right now," the man went on. "Kashin would kill me if I said to run you back without his permission. He needs to check your eyes now that you're awake. Can you do that for him?"

"I can......" Naruto tried to nod, but was stopped when a set of hands stilled his movements.

"Don't try to move much, Hokage-sama," the boy's voice said before pulling out a penlight to shine in his eyes. "You're very sick. Have you eaten anything?"

"Just..w..wate...r."

"From the stream?"

"Yes."

"Sensei, we can move him, and we should leave now. He's not going to make it here."

The man jumped up and doused the fire right away. "Mitsurami, Kyomaru, pack it up and split my things between you. We're going home tonight."

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.

.

Tsunade slumped back into the chair the nurses had lead her over to, drained of all but what it took to keep herself alive. Sakura and Shizune both remained in place, along with several other medics, two doctors, and an array of nurses bent on keeping the medics and doctors alive while they worked on keeping Naruto alive. She had ordered things to be kept quiet about his state of return, even from the man's family. Of course, Kyomaru had told his parents who passed it on to Hinata and Hitomi, and Mitsurami had informed her dads, Kakashi and Iruka. Which also meant that Kashin had told half the Yamanaka clan, and all of them were spreading the news, too. Shikamaru had remained on Hospital grounds, staying mostly just outside the window in case anyone tried to come in that way without permission.

She hoped and prayed the blond man's condition improved within the next five minutes. His body had stopped producing its own chakra, which meant the only thing keeping him alive were those pouring their own life energy into him while one or two others attempted to jump-start Naruto's own chakra system over and over again. Had it been anyone else, she would have allowed them to stop hours ago, even ordered it should any of the team decide to continue. But this was their friend, a man who was like family to her. Sakura felt the same, she knew, and Shizune wouldn't give up on him either now that he'd made his way into her heart as well.

"There's too much damage and blood loss," someone said a while later when Tsunade was forcing herself to sip at a box of juice. "Transfusions won't work without the arteries restored, and they're still a mess."

"But I just fixed that!" one of the medics argued with the doctor.

"Well, then it didn't stay fixed," the doctor replied.

Tsunade fought a tear. She knew what that meant. The woman who claimed to have healed Naruto's main blood vessels a moment before was one of her top people, but that didn't change the fact that Naruto's body was beginning to reject the treatments. When that happened, the body undid everything that was done to help it, even without it's own chakra to replace the foreign chakra being used to keep it alive. Without his own chakra to old things together and bond with the medics' chakra, his body would just fall back apart again to the way it was before they had received him. He wasn't dying anymore. He was dead.

Nothing any of them could do would change that fact now.

Tsunade stood up on weak legs, set the juice down and walked out of the room.

As she had suspected, a good deal of people had been waiting out in the hall for any news at all. They looked up at her in hope, all quiet to hear anything she might say.

She didn't say anything, didn't even meet their eyes, but turned her focus to the floor before turning away and walking to her office. She locked the door behind her and set her head on the desk, tears falling as if just to spite her.

"You know what this means for you, Tsunade-sama," a man told her from behind.

"Genma, I don't even want to think about that right now," she replied weakly. "I can't do it anyway. I'm not Sarutobi-sensei."

"But Konoha trusts you."

"I'm too old."

"So was he."

"And I'm sick."

"They don't know that."

"They will soon enough." she turned her head away as she spoke, knowing Genma was walking towards her and would see her puffy eyes. "I'll tell them. If they don't believe it, they can ask Shizune."

"It's still your job to name a successor then," he chanced putting a hand on her shoulder. "Tsunade-sama, please."

"I won't do it. Not even that. I won't be the cause of yet another death. That necklace is going to be buried with Naruto's body, though, if I have my way."

.

.

.

Hinata watched the clouds pass overhead, wondering what kind of hopes Shikamaru got or what wishes he made when looking up at them. The clouds certainly wouldn't be bringing Naruto back to her, not unless he'd been gone practicing some strange jutsu and lost the time from being up there so long that loss of oxygen took away his reasoning. Maybe that was where he was, literally riding the clouds to some far land.

"Hinata-sama."

She turned to see Kyomaru bowing slowly. He was always such a wiry child, and his energy had carried on into his current, late teen years. His behavior now surprised her. She had never seen him so restrained, even when ordered.

"Hai, Kyomaru-chan?"

"Naruto-sama has been found. I... Tsunade-sama ordered my team not to tell anyone, even you, but he is dying."

"Find Hitomi and then bring her here," Hinata chocked back her fears for the time being. "Iruka needs to be told so that we can keep Hiraki and Minato from hearing about any of it until we're sure."

"I understand, Hinata-sama," Kyomaru bowed his head only this time before leaving.

She knew going to the hospital wouldn't solve anything. Neither she or Hitomi were medics. They would only be in the way. Still, she knew they would eventually call her there. Kyomaru would either be very right, or very wrong. There never was an in-between for Naruto in the past. Either he was alive, or at death's doorstep. She remained where she was, waiting until her eldest daughter arrived.

"Kaa-san, what is going on?" Hitomi asked, practically sprinting to Hinata's side. "Kyomaru said they found Tou-san!"

It wasn't but a split second after that when someone was sent to them, telling them that they needed to get to the hospital as quickly as possible.

.

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"Hinata. Hinata. Where is she? Sakura, where?"

"Just try to rest, Naruto," Sakura said, sparing a hand to run through her friend's hair in an unusual display of affection. "She's coming. Just try to be here when she is."

"I need her here," Naruto muttered. "Have to tell her."

"Naruto, you won't be strong enough to tell her if you keep talking now," Sakura said, trying to admonish him.

"Not gonna. Just tell her I'm sorry. I lost my ring. I'm sorry."

"Something tells me she won't care. Now shut up and save your strength."

The door opened, admitting the messenger Sakura had sent along with Hinata and Hitomi.

"She's here, Naruto."

Hitomi stood back by the door as her mother went forward to the bedside. She couldn't handle speaking with her father, knowing he was dead already with the way Sakura and three others continued to pour their chakra into his body in order to keep him awake enough to speak with Hinata. His life force was already gone, only his mind remained, running on the thoughts he last thought while truly alive. Sakura had explained the mechanics of it to her once, how the organs could be kept healthy--especially the brain--as long as they received oxygen and blood. In the absence of those, chakra alone could keep them functioning for as long as someone was willing to pour their own into the vital parts. It could last several days if even one person would share enough to keep the main organs and the brain functioning correctly. Still, the person was dead, no longer making their own chakra or burning their own energy.

Hitomi knew her father was already dead. Looking at him like this, kept animated by the people around him and rattling off thoughts to her mother, Hitomi felt sick. The dead shouldn't move of their own accord like that. The dead shouldn't be able to cry and laugh and tell you they loved you. The dead should be still, quiet, peaceful. Her father's body, though, showed all signs of pain, anxiety, fear, and sadness. He spoke in short sentences mirroring his last thoughts, repeating himself over and over. His last worry had been about the wedding band and what Hinata would think of him for loosing it. It was so silly of a thing to focus on, so like him to worry about the little things at home rather than put his full mind into keeping himself going, it only hurt her more. Why wouldn't Sakura just let his body rest? Why did they have to go through this? Why did she have to watch her mother try to keep it together for the peace of mind of a dead man?

Someone pulled her out of the room and held her close to his chest, almost fatherly in his way of handling her. She recognised his voice when he whispered to her, telling her it was alright to cry, that he wouldn't judge her. It was her cousin and sensei, Neji. She remembered he had been there when his father had died, and he knew exactly what she was going through. Trusting him, she let it go, her whole world was allowed to fully crumble as she fell to her knees, taking him with her. Kyomaru wasn't far behind in coming to hold her, always more of a brother than a cousin in her eyes. And he had been there when her father was found, was on the team bringing him back.

That was how they were found when others began to arrive, hearing the news second, third, fourth hand or more. Eventually, her cousins let her go into the arms of her friends, giving what knowledge they had to others that came. When Tsunade came out of the room, tired, and turned away from everyone without a word, Hitomi knew. Her father had finally been allowed to rest. Somehow, the defeated look in Tsunade's eyes brought a bit of rest and relief to Hitomi's heart and mind.

"Hitomi, come here," Hinata said through the cracked door, blocking out everyone but her daughter.

Hitomi stood up and forced herself to walk back into the room, the feeling of weights on her legs, arms, and in her chest slowing her down. Hinata closed the door and locked it behind Hitomi once she made it inside.

"Take these," Hinata said, handing her several small, folded pieces of paper, each addressed to someone different. "Some are from your father to them. Others are from me to your brother and sister and their teachers. I need you to take them home today. Don't tell them anything. Understand? They're not even to know he was brought back home, or that he was ever even scratched. It's not the time yet for many people to know."

"There's already so many waiting outside, though, Kaa-san," Hitomi replied, keeping her eyes on Hinata rather than anywhere else, or even at the blood on her mother's hands. The blood was definitely Naruto's, but her mother still hadn't cried. Hitomi knew she was being strong for the people around them. It still hurt, though, to have broken down and been comforted while her mother was the epitome of self controle.

"The word won't spread outside the Shinobi part of the village for at least a day," Hinata told her, knowing from experience. "Villagers will suspect, but nothing solid will get out to them until we are ready."

"I hope you're right, Kaa-san," Hitomi said with a small sniffle, most of the tears gone from her. "I'll do what I can with Hiraki and Minato."

"Good girl," Hinata kissed her daughter's forehead. "Go. Clean up. Get your brother and sister. Take them home. If they ask where I am, I'm with Sakura."

"I understand," Hitomi nodded, turned, and left, reading off the names on each small letter. She pushed passed the others waiting in the hall, handing out the papers to the ones that merited them and then made her way to the bathroom, intent on cleaning up her face enough to meet the rest of the world head-on and neutral like a typical Kunoichi was expected to be when running simple errands.


	6. Oopsie fixer V2 Family Tree Overhaul

Family Tree overhaul! Nope, not a chapter, just a different, better way of showing how the family tree and such are supposed to look. Thanks to a review, I took a look back at it and saw just how terrible it really was and did this!

Please ignore the . . . . . stuff. It's the only way that I could get it to keep the placement of some of the ++ marks and keep separation between cousins. ++ means marriage. ll means a child from that couple (married or not). ------ of any length show siblings. The numbers inside () show age differences between siblings. Thanks for bearing with me through all the mistakes thus far!

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FAMILIES

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.

Naruto ++ Hinata--(5yrs according to manga)--Hanabi  
.............ll  
Hitomi--(5 yrs)--Hiraki--(7 yrs)--Minato  
++Toshihiro . . . . .++ ?  
ll . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ll  
Tabenko . . . . . . .Naruto

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.

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Neji ++ Tenten  
. . . . ll  
Kyomaru ++ Mitsurami  
. . . . . . . .ll  
. . . . . . Kyoki

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? ++ Kiba--(older sis→)--Hana ++ ?  
. . . ll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ll  
Toshihiro ++ Hitomi . . . . . . . . Aki  
. . . . . . . .ll  
. . . . . .Tabenko

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. . . . . . . . Ino ++ Sasuke  
. . . . . . . . . . . . ll  
Toshimaru--(6 yrs)--Shakaiko

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. . . . . . . . . . . Sakura ++ Lee  
. . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . ll  
Ichimaru(3 months before death)--Rinko

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.

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Shikamaru++ Temari--------Kankurou-----------Gaara  
. . . . . . . . . ll . . . . . . . . . . . ++ Takarako  
. . . . . . . .Hayai . . . . . . . . . .ll  
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kimagure

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. . . . . . . . Shino ++ ?  
. . . . . . . . . . . . . ll  
Shinju and Shinka--(8 yrs)--Miko

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Konohamaru ++ Moegi  
. . . . . . . . .. . ll  
. . . . . . . . Asuma

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Kakashi + + Iruka  
(with Rin) . (with Anko)  
. .ll . . . . . . . . . ll  
Mitsurami . . . Daan  
. ++ Kyomaru  
. . ll  
Kyoki

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.

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Temari------------Kankurou--------Gaara  
++Shikamaru. . . ++ Takarako  
ll . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ll  
Hayai . . . . . . Kimagure


	7. Chapter 6

Yes, I know there are some now dead people being mentioned here, just remember I wrote this just barely after getting to Shippuden manga. Thus, it's really, really AU.

Sorry for the delay in updating, but I wasn't sure which version of this I wanted to post. Now, it's a mix of the two versions. I did go back through it and try to link them better, but you will most likely notice a few discrepancies I've missed in the quick re-read. If you do, I'd appreciate it greatly if you pointed them out so that they can be fixed.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Umino Iruka looked up at the students as they labored over this week's test. In all actuality, it was a test to see if they could just follow directions. The very first thing they were instructed to do after putting their names on the paper was to read over each problem and activity. Once reading every instruction and question, they were to begin the actual test. The very last instruction, however, was to not do the rest of what they had read and just turn in the sheet of paper. Those who did so without doing anything more than reading received perfect scores. Those who could be seen moving about the room, hands on noses and hopping on one leg, or giving the names of each hokage in correct order on a separate sheet of paper would fail the little ten point test. Iruka, however, had told them it was worth two-hundred points just to make them more interested in actually passing.

He scanned each young face, remembering years gone by. He had taught many of their parents, and he had sat in those seats beside several more of their grandparents. Iruka suddenly felt a little old. An old ninja was hard to come by, even in peaceful countries. Yet, he knew that there were many more years to come into his life. He had many, many more students to which he would impart his knowledge and skills.

After a few minutes, only one child was left standing on her toes and touching her ears with pencils. Uzumaki Hiraki had the same bad habit as her father when it came to rushing into things. Just like Naruto, Hiraki seldom waited for the final instructions to be given before barging off to do things the Uzumaki way. Iruka wondered if anything besides Hyuuga Hinata's physical features had made their way into her children. They could certainly do with a bit more caution and reservation.

"Hiraki," Iruka took pity on the girl at whom all the other students were now laughing and pointing at.

"Hai, Iruka-sensei?" she asked, relaxing her pose.

"Did you read all the way through the paper before beginning?" he asked, pushing a stern look onto his face to keep from laughing.

"Hai."

"Tell me, please, what the last instruction was."

"To do none of the above instructions, put your initials in the blank at the bottom and turn it in."

"So why are you standing there like that?"

"It's fun," she shrugged, actually shrugged at him.

Iruka put his face in his hands. Yes, this was Naruto's daughter after all. Only the black hair and pale skin said she actually had another parent.

"Hiraki, just turn it in already," he said, straightening up only when the sound of knocking startled the whole class. Iruka gave one last order before answering, "Turn it in with the others, Hiraki. As for the whole class, go ahead and begin on your history homework."

Opening the door, he looked down, expecting a student to be carrying a message for another student. He was correct about the height, but not the number of messages. The girl gave him an envelope with a note saying to read the message addressed to him before giving the second message to the student it was for. Puzzled, he took out the two notes, and read them over. A couple of his students may have noticed when their teacher stumbled backwards and practically fell into his seat, the blood rushing out of his face as his hands began to tremble. Soon, the whole class was watching as Iruka struggled to finish reading the note, then re-read it several more times just to be sure he had read it correctly the first time.

"Iruka-sensei?" one of the Aburame twins spoke up, standing as if to come near him. "Are you all right?"

"I..." he stammered, taking a little more time to master his body and face than he usually needed. "I am sure you will all hear about it soon enough. Hiraki, you also have a message. Your sister will be taking your brother and you home today."

Hiraki noticed that the man did not look her in the eye as he relayed the message. It was odd, she mused, that the note about her sister coming to get Minato and she was in the same envelope that contained a note that shook up her teacher so much. Was it just a coincidence? She wasn't so sure quite yet. Perhaps Hitomi could shed a bit more light on the ordeal in a few minutes when she came by.

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.

.

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A little blond five-year-old let his mind wander, looking out at the tree just beyond the classroom window. A small bird perched near a blossom and sang a song in his direction. He absentmindedly thought that if the feathers were ruffled a bit on its crown, and a tiny dog was by its side, the little bird with the red and black wings would be just like a whistling Uncle Kiba. He didn't even notice that his pen was leaking all over his favorite pair of orange shorts as the birds and the breeze entertained him more than the roll call.

"Uzumaki, Minato?"

The boy heard his name somewhere in the back of his mind, but his focus had now shifted to the remaining dew drops on the window sill.

"Hey! Wake up over there, knucklehead!" a girl behind him said, poking him in the back of the head. Startled, he jumped up on top of his desk and whirled around to stare her down with opal eyes.

"I was wondering when you'd wake up, Minato," their sensei said with a hint of laughter in his voice. "Now, please, sit down and behave yourself, or I believe your friend, Rinko, may not be so kind again."

Minato didn't dare take his eyes off of the girl behind him. He knew their sensei was right about Rinko. That pretty face and green eyes framed out by black hair with pink streaks was being extremely generous by only poking him hard enough to leave a light bruise. If their sensei knew just how strong and fast his one-time playmate truly was, even he would be on guard every time the green and pink thing streaked by in the halls.

Girls were not to be trusted, especially this girl. Minato knew all about the things girls could do to you and to each other. Between Rinko and his own sisters, Minato knew he was either very lucky or very cursed not to be among the female half of the human population on the earth. How they could survive around each other was proof enough for him. Girls were ruthless and twisted, never forgetting any slight you made to them, even if you did not remember the act. They always had their revenge.

Especially mothers.

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Hitomi spotted her little sister and brother standing by the gate of the playground. Or, rather, Minato was attempting to fight with Rinko, but Hiraki was holding him back. Rinko was standing there, laughing at Minato and playing with her black and pink hair teasingly. Both girls were laughing at the boy's inability to take out his anger. The sight saddened Hitomi even more as she noticed their father's features in her siblings. Hiraki's eyes and height. Minato's hair and facial structure. Not to mention temper. Did Hiraki know that she had a bit of a ramen stain on her shirt? Did Minato realize he was spouting things like "believe it!" at his intended target? Probably not.

"Hiraki! Minato!" she called them, trying to sound normal. She could not allow the sadness and fear to show through right now. If they saw it, they would ask a million questions, and, despite her training, Hitomi still had no defenses against a crying little Hiraki or a pouting little Minato. She was far too emotional when it came to her siblings. Probably something she'd gotten from her father.

Rinko had been afraid of Hitomi since the first day they'd met. She'd been picking on Minato, and Hitomi gave her a beating the younger girl would never forget even if she lived over a hundred years. The very sound of her voice sent Rinko sprinting home, but Hitomi did not enjoy it this time.

"Arigato, nee-chan," Hiraki thanked her sister, still holding back a struggling brother firmly with one arm.

"Ne?" Minato looked up at his sisters. "When did you get here?"

"Doesn't matter. Kaa-san is busy right now with Sakura-san, so you two are coming home with me today," Hitomi said, opening her hands out for them to take.

Hiraki waited for her brother to take the offered hand first, unsure if she should trust him to quit fighting yet. Once he did, she took his other hand instead of the one her sister offered her. She wanted to make good and sure he couldn't get away if he suddenly remembered Rinko.

"What about Tou-san?" Hiraki asked lightly. "He's not driving Tsunade-baa-chan up a wall again, is he?"

"No, he isn't," Hitomi answered, keeping her voice neutral. "He is with Kaa-san right now."

"Oh, I get it!" she laughed. "Snuck away together like they did that one time last year, huh?"

"Something like that, yeah," she said, remembering that incident, too. No, the younger Uzumaki children had no idea what had happened then, either. That time, their mother had nearly died. Instead of telling the truth, Hitomi had lied to her brother and sister as their father had instructed. Instead of the truth, she told them that their parents wanted to be alone for a while and went out of the village secretly for a couple days' vacation. In all reality, her father was devoted to his wife's bedside during those two days. When they came back, Hinata told her younger children that she had slipped on a rock and to be careful with her because she still hurt a bit from the fall.

"Nee-chan?" Minato looked up at Hitomi as they walked past Ichiraku's Ramen, a favorite stop of not only their father's, but all of the Uzumaki bloodline to date. "Why are you lying?"

"What makes you think I'm lying?" she asked, taken back by her brother's insight.

"Your finger twitches when you lie. It twitched like crazy every time you talked."

"It did?" she asked, ripping her hand away from him to look at it closely. "Really?"

"Yeah, try it. Say something like... Say something like 'I hate Inuzaka Toshihiro.' and watch your pinky."

Hitomi held her hand up before her face and spoke, "I hate Inuzaka Toshihiro."

She grabbed her finger and forced it to still after it made only one jump out to the side in dispute to what she had just claimed. She scrunched up her eyes, wondering how the truth had caused her finger to twitch. Maybe she just had a finger-twitching kind of problem from nerve damage or something like that.

"That's odd. I really don't like him," Twitch. "but it's doing it anyway. Maybe I'll get Sakura-san to look at it for me tomorrow or something."

"Or, maybe she's in-love with him and doesn't want to admit it to herself," Hiraki whisper-giggled into her brother's ear.

"I heard that, Hiraki," Hitomi smacked her sister's head playfully, happy to be taken away from the pain still simmering in her heart.

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Darkness had fallen outside, and still Uzumaki-Hyuuga Hinata sat by her husband's side, unknown to all outside of the hospital besides her eldest child. The night was clear, bright, and cold as Hitomi stood out in the training circle the main-branch of the Hyuuga Clan used, looking up at the mostly full, but waning moon in nothing but her nightdress. Her brother and sister were already put to bed and probably snoring up a storm by now.

Although allowed to be a part of the main branch simply because her mother was the Head of the Clan, Hitomi and her sister Hiraki would never be allowed to take over their mother's position, or even hold any office within the clan. Not officially, anyway. Their brother, however, would be given that responsibility once Hinata chose to hand it over to someone else. It was all because of the Byakuugan. Minato possessed it, and his sisters did not, thus he was looked on as more of a Hyuuga than they were by the rest of the main and secondary houses. They were stupid rules made only once Minato was born, despite Hinata's disapproval. She had been outvoted by over two-thirds of the council. At least one of them would be allowed to carry things on.

Hitomi laughed a little to herself. They had thought maybe Minato would be more Hyuuga-like than the girls simply because of his eyes. She wondered just how much the council regretted that decision now that they all could see just how much the child ended up like their father.

Their father... Cold, grey, bloody, lifeless, father lying quietly on the hospital bed between her and her mother. The sixth Hokage dead. All happiness and ironic humor drained away from Hitomi as she brought her arms up to hug herself, bowing her head as the sobbing came again.

She loved her father to no end. When he took her home after school, they always stopped by Ichiraku's Ramen for an early dinner, spoiling her appetite for the family supper waiting at home. He had tutored her in transformation jutsu. Once she had mastered that, he had taught her the multi-shadow clone jutsu. By then, Hiraki was also allowed to take these tutoring sessions with them and was the first in her class to produce a perfect clone. Upon becoming a genin, he had taught her the basic Rasengan and challenged her to create her own variation like he had. When she passed the chunin exams on her second try, he taught her a summoning technique, expecting to see one of the toads he was so used to by then. When she summoned a spotted cat that called itself an ocelot, they were both shocked. What was an ocelot? Where did they come from? Why an ocelot instead of something they were a bit more familiar with?

It didn't really matter now what came from her summon, she guessed. What mattered was the fact he had taught it to her, and that she had succeeded after long weeks of training and practice. What mattered was the fact that their reactions mirrored each other when something new came out of it. All of the smoking, disfigured, and silly looking clones she had first produced were similar to the ones her father had first made. The similarity, shared laughter and learning was what really mattered now, not the physical things that came out of it... Just the emotions and security they had shared together. The security that he had passed on not just to his family, but to all of Konohagakure.

Someone moved behind her. She didn't care to look or leave. For a moment, she hoped it was an assassin, come to kill her. She had but one weapon on her, a knife she only ever removed to take a bath in the relative safety of her own home. It was a present from her team leader, her own cousin, Hyuuga Neji, for becoming a chunin. three years ago. She left it untouched in its sheath strapped to her thigh.

"If you're here to kill me," she said to the unknown person, "you've picked the only day I haven't ever felt like fighting back."

"Why would I want to kill you, Hitomi-kun?" the deep voice of her sensei asked, sounding rather confused.

"Gomen assai, Neji-sama," she apologized, turning in place and bowing to her elder. "Has Kaa-san contacted you yet?"

"Hai," he replied, walking to stand before her and put out both hands onto her shoulders. "I know what has happened to your father. I am sorry and sad it happened, too, but you cannot allow your sister or brother to see you like this. They'll need more than a mother's comfort when they find out."

"I know," she sniffled. "It's just so hard not to think about what I saw."

"Hopefully, it will be the only time you ever have to see it, though it is unlikely. Come, your mother has called a meeting on the roof of the Hokage Tower in a couple hours."

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Hiraki worked late on homework, going more slowly with it than needed just to stay up later. Her brother was fast asleep in his bed, snoring lightly as he hung on the edge. She knew he wouldn't fall off. He never had fallen out of bed before, for any reason except from being shoved, that is. Outside, though, she saw her sister standing by the gate, speaking with Neji animatedly, joined quickly by Kyomaru.

Curious, she slipped on a jacket and snuck out the window to get closer.

"Your mother is going to make the announcement in the morning," Neji told Hitomi. "It seems your father had a small list of names for promotion."

"But why not Tsunade-sama?" Hitomi asked. "She already has experience."

"She's not exactly in the best of health herself, Hitomi," Neji replied. "She can't protect us again. You have no idea what it cost her trying to keep your father alive."

Hitomi flinched at that. Alive? No. Not alive.

"I just spoke with Hinata-sama and Sakura-sama," Kyomaru spoke up. "They said Tsunade is in intensive care right now. She just doesn't have the energy to come back."

"Like Tou-san," Hitomi looked away and at the ground.

"Yes," Kyomaru nodded. "That's how Sakura-sama put it."

"Damn it," Hitomi cursed, then noticed something out of the corner of her eye. It was her sister. "Hiraki, what are you doing out here? I told you to get to bed."

"What happened to Tou-san, Nee-chan?" Hiraki asked, stepping out of the shadows. "Tell me the truth this time."

"Hiraki, you have to wait for Kaa-san to tell you," Hitomi answered, angry that her sister had been eavesdropping. "She told me not to say anything."

"Tou-san is sick, isn't he?" Hiraki asked, remembering the comment about Tsunade. "Really sick."

"No, Hiraki-chan, Tou-san isn't sick," Hitomi turned to her little sister. "Now go back to bed!"

Scared at the tone Hitomi used at her, Hiraki did as she was told, forgetting the rest of her homework.

"I have to leave in a few minutes with my team back to the place where we found him," Kyomaru informed his father and their cousin. "Shikamaru-sensei is staying behind, but Mitsurami, Kashin, and I are going to be gone for a few days at least."

"Be careful," Neji told him warningly. "Don't make us burry more people."

"I won't, Tou-san," Kyomaru replied, trying to smile. "I still plan on making you a grandfather someday."

"I bet I know who'd like to help you out with that, too," Hitomi teased, grabbing on to the small bit of happiness like it was a lifeline. "Mitsurami-chan looks at you like there's no other man in the world."

The talk of love and continuing life bit into Hitomi's heart even deeper. How could her cousins talk like this when her father... Cold. Dead. Still _breathing_ without a spark behind those eyes...

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Hinata paced in her husband's office at the Hokage Tower. Right now, the village council and the heads of the major clans were the only people officially told about the death of the Hokage. All shinobi would be told within a few minutes. The rest of the village would learn of it in the morning. The shinobi and major clan heads had to know first in order to help contain any panic that might ensue. Fear of the unleashed power of the Kyuubi was all that had kept their enemies at bay for the past few years. Sand Country seemed to be their best ally lately, and they awarded Fire Country with many neutral parties that way, but the rest of the lands seemed stacked against Sand and Fire now.

When her cousin and daughter entered the room, she rushed over and pulled them both into a tight hug.

"It's time, Hinata," Neji said, the first to pull out of the embrace.

The two kunoichi clung together until reaching the top stair before parting and straightening themselves up before striding out before a crowded rooftop. Though many straightened up and stood at attention when they arrived, several more were still awaiting their Hokage and continued their quiet chatter of speculation.

"Shinobi of Konoha!" Neji grabbed their attention so that the the softer voices of his cousins did not strain unnoticed. The chatter and whispers ended and all eyes and ears were open to the three before them. Neji looked to Hinata for permission to continue on for her. She nodded, as did Hitomi when he looked to her. "We have a potentially destructive and panic-prone situation within our own walls to deal with in the morning. Konoha is no longer protected by the power that once brought the village to an end. The Rokudaime has passed away this day. There are too many possibilities, even within our own walls to determine whom may have committed the murdur. In the morning, we will release the news to the village. You are charged with keeping the calm during the transitional period between the Rokudaime and Hachidaime. Those who have been selected by both the village council and other leaders in the village will be notified within the week. Voting will not take place until at least a week after the Rokudaime has been laid to rest."

The murmuring would not begin until they were allowed to, but Neji waited a few seconds anyway. They would need time to digest the information first. Saying it aloud seemed to hit him a little harder, too.

"Dismissed."

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ㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅ

.

"Stay, Kakashi," Iruka commanded, placing a hand on his lover's arm to stop him from going home too early.

Kakashi looked around and saw that a few certain people were still standing there, senior jounin and several ANBU.

"Special instructions were left for those of us still here," Iruka explained, seeing the confusion in Kakashi already. "I received a note for the both of us."

"What kind of 'special' do you mean?" Kakashi asked, uncertain.

"Those of you who were called on earlier, please come into the office below with us," Hinata called out to them. Many followed. Hinata kept her head up until they entered the Kage's office below. For a moment, she had believed they would all see Naruto behind the desk, laughing at a prank gone perfectly. It would have been just like him to do something like that. Yet, looking there at where she expected him to be, Hinata only saw an empty seat that she could not bring herself to fill.

With a deep sigh, she turned around and nodded to the last people who entered, "Please close the door. I have some papers to give you all, and a few objects. Naruto and I talked this over many times before agreeing on what to do should something like this happen. All gathered here represent the only people he ever really trusted and loved outside of those either now passed on or too young to know just yet. Some of you here are going to be given the opportunity to...to take his...Naruto's...place as..."

Kakashi did not stop Iruka from publicly pulling the woman into a hug right along with her blood family. No one there would take it the wrong way anyway. Besides, if there was any room left to comfort her, Kakashi probably would have been doing just that himself. However, the woman shook off all support, steadying herself again as she went to a corner where a large box was sitting on the floor, dusty from at least a week's neglect. She opened it with a small knife hidden in her upswept hair and pulled out folders before turning back to them.

"Umino Iruka," she called, holding out a folder for him. "You were the first real friend in his life."

"Hatake Kakashi," she held one out to Kakashi, meeting his eyes. "One of the few who encouraged him openly."

"Rock Sakura, for being his friend, watching his back constantly, healing him physically every time he needed it, and being with him through everything to do with Uchiha Sasuke. Rock Lee, for teaching him the importance of physical labors and joys. Hyuuga Neji, for always keeping him away from his cousin's side. Sai, for being the most endearing ass hole of a team member possible. Aburame Shino, for teaching him the importance of even the smallest of creatures. Inuzaka Kiba, for the most painful of welcomed greetings ever imagined. Uzumaki Hitomi, for teaching him the joy of family and upstaging his antics and surpassing him in every other way in school and in every-day life. Choji, for always having a snack and a smile to spare for him during the saddest of times. Nara, Shikamaru, for teaching him that relaxation really can be just as effective as tearing a training poll to shreds.

"Kakashi, Sakura, Neji, Shikamaru, and Iruka, you are all hereby invited to take the offer that Naruto wished to give you himself. The position of Hokage can be yours if you want it."

"And not you?" Kakashi asked, taken back.

"I have enough on my shoulders with my clan," she replied a bit too quickly. "All of you, think about it tonight and the next few days. I'll need an answer within two weeks."

"Konohamaru isn't going to take this well," Sakura sighed. "He always dreamed of succeeding Naruto..."

"He has already received his notice," Hitomi said. "I took it to him earlier, just before he went on assignment."


	8. Chapter 7

Two nights had passed since the announcement was made about Naruto's death. It had been all the time Minato needed to gather up his friends and several of theirs. As he looked over the clothing, basic medical supplies, and small collection of weapons on his bed, he prayed his sisters didn't find him, or even notice him being gone for several hours. Faking a stomach ache, he'd gotten out of dinner, and he expected his friend Uchiha Shakaiko to bring enough for both of them. The girl had been good about it in the past. He knew he could trust her to do it again.

"Kaa-san, you know he wasn't serious," Hitomi told her mother when Minato took off down the hall, abandoning his dinner. "Could he really move that fast if he had an upset stomach?"

"If he has to throw up, he can," Hiraki answered in place of her mother. "Don't you remember the last time he got sick?"

"I was on a mission, remember?" Hitomi said to her sister, then turned back to Hinata. "Kaa-san? I think he's up to something."

"He is up to something," Hinata told them. "Sakura and Ino were talking about it yesterday. It seems a lot of the children are planing on going somewhere tonight."

"And you're just going to let him go?" Hiraki asked, wide eyed.

"Of course not, Nee-chan," Hitomi told her. "Right, Kaa-san? You're not going to just let him run off and see how long it takes for him to come back, are you?"

"They won't get far outside of Konoha," Hinata told her children. "As a matter of fact, I'm going to be leaving soon, myself. About ten of them are going. Ino heard about it first and made sure to get all the parents together. We'll be back home later tonight."

"Where are they going?"

"_Why_ are they going?"

Hinata held up a hand to stop the questions. "Because they're mad about your father. Someone seems to have told them where he was found. We debated on whether or not to let Shikamaru's team catch them or to bring them home ourselves. As it is, we should all meet up at about the same time at the rendezvous point the children have come up with."

"Boy, he's going to get it," Hiraki grinned, anxious to ream her brother about it already.

"Not from either of you," Hinata told them sternly. "I want you in bed when I come home, Hiraki. And, Hitomi, don't follow us. Someone has to be here to watch over things."

"Hai, Kaa-san," Hitomi replied, head down and eyes focused on her meal.

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An hour later, Hinata held her son by his hair, letting him know just how upset she was. Other similar scenes played out in the trees and on the ground as parents told off children for running off. Tenten arrived, then, having come as soon as she'd received the news from Hitomi. Minato was returned to the Hyuuga compound with Tenten, but Hinata stayed where she was, guarded by Akamaru before she even knew it. With Akamaru there, she knew Kiba must have been near-by, too. Most likely, he was after his niece since his sister, Hana, was away.

"Akamaru, you don't have to stay with me if you don't want to," she said, patting the dog's massive head.

Akamaru whined and nuzzled up to her instead of leaving, though. When she turned to leave for home, he took hold of her sleeve and pulled her back.

"Kiba wants you to keep me here, huh?" she asked and received a bark and wag of the tail in response. He meant yes, so she sat down by his side and waited several more minutes, petting his fur and just thinking.

"Hello, Hinata," Kiba joined them when most of the people had started leaving. "I see Akamaru's kept you good company."

"He's always good company," she replied, giving Akamaru a pat on the head.

"Can we talk?" he asked, shifting the angry girl on his hip.

"I should get home, and so should she," Hinata said, indicating Kiba's niece.

"Akamaru, take her home for me, alright?" Kiba said, putting the girl on the dog's back. "Don't let her run off."

Akamaru took off with a grunt.

"There. Child gone. And I'm sure whoever you sent Minato with will take good care of him."

"Yes," Hinata looked away from her friend. "He's fine with Tenten. Hitomi's taking care of Hiraki."

"Then let's take our time," he told her, lending a hand to help her off the ground. "I know you haven't had much of it lately."

"It's not exactly easy to find the time, though," Hinata replied, dusting off her backside and legs.

"Only because you don't want it," he said, meeting her eye. He knew what she was going through, having lost his wife only three years prior. "You need it, though."

"I have a family to take care of, and a place on the council to keep," Hinata retorted, hardening her expressions.

Kiba knew she would cry sometime. He wished she would come to Shino or him when she did. They each knew the pain she faced now, and they each knew how much it would have helped to have someone other than their children and other family to lean on.

"Shino and I were going to go out tonight after getting the kids in bed and hold our own little wake. You coming?"

"I...I don't know if that's the best idea."

"I never asked if it was a good idea," Kiba reminded her. "Come with us. Toshi is going to take care of Shino's girls, and you've got a whole clan at your disposal to take care of Minato. Hiraki can pretty much do for herself, and we both know Hitomi is practically ready to be kicked out of the nest. You can take a night to just relax."

"Not tonight, though," Hinata said, sticking to her resolve. "I'm going home."

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Hitomi was exhausted. Neji had put the team back into regular training only three days after her father's death. He told them that he shouldn't have even given them that much, said that this was the time to get even tougher on oneself. If they didn't stay strong, who would? She resented him for the first day, but the message sank in on the second day when Toshihiro caught her off guard, and without the aid of his oddly named dogs; Tsunami, Sushi, and Subaru. Normally it took at least two of them together to get her mixed up enough to miss the human among them. After that, Neji stood back and watched as the last member of their team, Ishiwa, dressed her down for the mistake.

If he hadn't been tending to a wound the youngest of his three dogs-Sushi-had sustained to her left flank, Toshihiro would have jumped to Hitomi's defense. As it was, Subaru and Tsunami were taking sides with her on their own, feeling that the anger Ishiwa brought into his voice was a serious threat to the way their team worked. Ishiwa was cut off by Neji, though, when Toshihiro released Sushi.

Hitomi left training early that day, right after the argument, in fact. Neji had told her to stay, but she pulled family rank over him and took off anyway, angering all three men. Hitomi used a very low blow to get her way this time. Soon after, Neji just called off the rest of the day, frustrated.

Toshihiro started off in the direction he thought Hitomi had gone, only to be corrected several times by the dogs. With all the mix of smells and footprints of so many people and animals, his nose just wasn't up to the task of tracking her in the village itself. Yet, as he had believed, she didn't go back home. Instead, she had gone to the lake and sat out on the water at a point that gave a good view of her father and grandfather's faces carved into the mountain, but one face between them of the woman who had been like a grandmother to her.

"Stay here, guys," Toshihiro told his four-legged partners-in-crime before walking out onto the water to sit by her.

"What are you doing here, Toshi?" Hitomi asked in a bit of a growl. "Here because Neji sent you? Ishiwa suddenly remembered to be sorry?"

"Can't you just be happy anybody is here, Hitomi?" he asked defensively. "I came because I wanted to."

"I'm sorry," she said, hugging her knees.

"It's okay," he told her gently, looking up at the monument in a bit of his own reflection. "Your Tou-san's paint job still shows, though it's much better now that everybody's faces are colored correctly. What do you say we go play with it some? Make it the way he would want it?"

"Kaa-san would kill me," Hitomi replied. "And I don't want to play right now. I just want to see him again. Alive for real, not like he was that night..."

"I talked to my Tou-san about that," Toshihiro told her. "He said your Kaa-san told him you were having bad dreams about that. Nightmares even."

"So would you if you saw what I did..." she shuddered, memories coming back vividly to her mind's eye. "Please, I don't want to remember..."

"Okay," Toshihiro put an arm around her shoulders and gave a little hug. "We don't have to talk about him then. How about your brother? Aki sure got into trouble about that thing that they all cooked up."

"That still comes back around to my Tou-san, Toshihiro," Hitomi sighed.

He smiled at her though, rubbing her shoulder carefully. She had gotten punched there earlier, after all. She leaned into him starting to get chilly as the sun began to set, taking the air temperature with it's light. She was dressed lightly, for the warmer part of the day, and hadn't brought anything for later on, expecting to still be warm from working out. He took off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders, not one to get cold as easily as she.

"You don't have to do that, Toshihiro," Hitomi started to give him back the jacket.

"Keep it on," he said, pressing it back to her. "You're starting to shiver."

"But you-"

"I'm fine," he cut her off. "Besides, we should go and get some dinner, huh?"

"I'm not hungry," she muttered into his side, secretly enjoying the position she was stuck in, "but we should definitely get off the water."

"Good idea," he agreed, standing up and taking her with him.

It didn't bother her that he took her hand, the first time she'd let him do it since they were little. It didn't surprise him that she walked closer than usual, too, probably brought about because of the cold. The three waiting for them on the dock, however, noticed the change and were curious. Yet, they didn't ask Toshihiro, because it might embarras him in front of Hitomi, especially since she didn't understand what they said. The whole thing would be awkward.

The dogs didn't understand why Hitomi shied away from their master so many times before, only to run to their taichou for information so many times in the past years. He had always treated them well, and often made many attempts to show his interest in her as a potential mate over the past few years. So had the dark haired boy, Ishiwa, but the two did not fight over the female like most males would. And the main pack leader, Neji, had stepped in very little, confusing them even more. Wasn't it the pack leader's job to say whether or not a female was allowed to mate with a male other than himself? Didn't he have to back it up with his teeth now and then?

No, they decided, humans were strange creatures. Neji ruled by words more than action, and let his pack learn by experience when words were not enough. He pushed them hard to work together well, and keep their bodies in fit condition, but their mating habits, he did not controle. As far as they knew, though, only Ishiwa had mated, and that had proven unsuccessful. No pups, and he gave up on the girl. As far as their master, Toshihiro, he had been here and there with the females, but had not gotten interested enough in them. He had only ever treated Hitomi as another male when in the pack dynamic, but occasionally sent a few open invitations when outside that area.

At last, it seemed she was responding to his shows of interest. Why she was so sad, too, they didn't understand either. Did it have something to do with why they didn't see the blond man around anymore? They thought so. Hitomi had been happier in the days when he had sent her off with Neji in the mornings.

The five of them walked through the paths quietly while the clothing of the humans dried off and the dogs held their silent conversation behind them. The two humans walked closer together every few minutes. From hand holding at the water's edge, to arms locked a few yards later. A few yards more after that, arms reached around one another, caressing on occasion. They remained that way until dusk before turning back to town and towards the Hyuuga compound. As they got closer to Hitomi's destination, they moved back apart at about the same pace.

By the time they reached the gate to the Hyuuga compound, the pair weren't even holding hands any more.

"Thank you, Toshihiro," Hitomi said softly, taking the jacket off and returning it to him.

"For what?" he asked, confused.

"Everything this afternoon," she smiled, backing away slowly.

"Maybe we should do it again tomorrow," he offered hopefully.

"Maybe we should."

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Neji came home to an empty apartment in the compound. It wasn't new to him. Kyomaru was often out late with his team or other friends. Tenten...well, he had his suspicions. Some of them weren't all that good. He didn't mind, though. In his mind, he deserved it after what he'd done to her during their early years together. As long as it didn't last longer than his misstep, he wouldn't bother to call her on it. He just hoped Sakura could be as forgiving of Lee.

Pulling open the liquor cabinet, he pulled out a bottle of whiskey, knocked back a couple shots to fight back the anger with mellowness, and returned it to its place. A shower was next on the list, and then bed. The blow up durring regular training that morning had gotten to him, especially because it had pushed the growing wedge between himself and Hitomi even deeper. Yes, she had turned back into that little girl he remembered from years ago for a few moments the day her father died, but it was only a flash.

The only people who didn't seem to move away more every day were Hinata and Minato. Hinata had become like a closer sister over the years, and being that the two families shared meals almost every night meant that he knew Minato nearly as well as his own son. In the past five days since Naruto's death, the blond boy had sought Neji out more often on a daily basis than before for comfort and instruction.

Right now, though, he liked being alone. Stepping out of the shower, he didn't have to worry about putting on night clothes to make it from the bathroom to his bedroom for his son's sake, or the sake of his friends. Neji went straight from the tub to the bedroom braiding his still wet hair on the way and tying it off with a simple rubber band. It was near time to get it cut again, so he didn't mind damaging the ends a little more.

Pulling down the covers, he only chanced to see the note on Tenten's pillow. At first, he didn't want to read it, thinking again about Lee. But he saw Kyomaru's name right after his own, followed by the words "is in the hospital." He picked it up then and read every word twice. Kyomaru was unresponsive, beat up pretty bad, and was found passed out near the back side of the hospital wall.

Just as he was about to throw on whatever clothes his hands grabbed first and take off for the hospital, Tenten entered the bedroom looking exhausted.

"How is he?" Neji asked, half way into pulling on his underwear.

"Stable," Tenten replied, sitting down on her side of the bed and keeping her eyes averted. "They say he's just under being able to come to full consciousness again."

"How is that possible?" he asked, stripping back down when he realised she wasn't there to find him and bring him back with her.

"They don't know," Tenten shook her head. "It makes no sense. He was just fine last week. And now he doesn't even know about her..."

"What are you talking about?" Neji asked, not knowing what she was referring to.

Tenten turned back to him with a sad smile. "Mitsurami is pregnant, or so Shikamaru informed Kakashi and I when we got there."

"How could he not know?" Neji asked, sitting down, too. "They're practically attached at the hip. If she was going around with someone and ended up pregnant, wouldn't she tell him?"

"He's the father, Neji," Tenten clarified. "She only just found out, too. Neji, we're going to be grandparents at forty-five... Grandparents to a child that may not have a father if Kyomaru doesn't pull out of this within the next couple days according to the doctors and medics alike."

He wished she would hold him like she used to, but Tenten pulled off her outer clothes and left her panties and tank top on before crawling under the covers and turning out her bedside light, her back turned to him. She didn't say another word, not even a courtesy "good night" when he shut off his light and tucked in beside her, facing her way rather than the wall.

"Good night, Tenten," he said, trying to prompt her into some sort of reply. Surely the worry over their son would bring something out of her if given the proper push. Still, she did not reply. "Tenten, I said good night."

Her body shook a little with each breath, he saw (and felt through the covers), and he knew she was crying. It was the first time in a long time that she cried infront of him, even silently as this. Was she really that worried? He knew he was, but crying had never been something she had done to show her fear. That was more Hinata than Tenten. Neji reached over and gently turned her to face him in the moonlit room, caressing her cheek to wipe away some of the tears.

"Why do you keep me here, Neji?" she asked, choking back more crying.

"Because I love you, and I never want to push you away," he said honestly. "If you don't stay, it won't be because I haven't tried to keep you."

"But you have to know...about what I've been doing...don't you?" Tenten asked, refusing to take comfort in his touch.

"With Lee?" he asked. "Yes, I know about that."

"And you're not angry?"

"Of course I am," he replied, letting a little of the anger show through. "I also know I don't have the right to stop you, seeing as what I did wasn't much different or off the mark."

"Sakura doesn't know, though," Tenten told him. "Lee knew right off when you two were...were..."

"Maybe because he's done it before?" Neji suggested. "Come on, Tenten, don't lie to yourself or me. You know he's had other affairs on Sakura than you."

"It's still not right," Tenten looked away from him. "I told him I was done, that I couldn't do it anymore. It's not right. I hate what it did to us, Neji. I hate fearing to touch you because you might smell him on me, or taste him on my lips. I didn't want you to know I'd done it."

"I don't care about that, Tenten," Neji lied for her benefit. "As long as you can come back to me again at some point, I don't care. Right now, Kyomaru needs us to be strong, and we've got to figure out whether or not we want to tell Hinata about Mitsurami and what that might mean for the clan."


	9. Chapter 8 Epilogue

Pressing her fingers together had been a bad enough habit. Now, though, Hinata was absolutely fidgety. She didn't want to be here. It hurt to be sitting in the morgue the second time in a week. And she was frightened...so frightened. Having seen Naruto's wounds, she knew she wouldn't want to know what had caused them, or the ones she didn't clearly see before. Yet, the report had to be made to all the council and heads of clan, starting with the Acting Hokage and herself.

"Hinata-chan? Sakura-chan?"

Fir the first time since sitting down in the waiting room, Hinata glanced somewhere other than at the floor, looking over to the man calling her in, and over at the Acting Hokage. Sakura.

It was odd that the council would approve Sakura to serve as Acting Hokage should Naruto fall ill and not appoint his favorite rival, Konohamaru, to do it instead. Most people figured it would be a better idea to let Konohamaru get in that kind of experience, but the council chose Naruto's second option. Maybe it was because the woman was more mature than the Sarutobi man, but Hinata just didn't know.

"Shinri-san has finished the autopsy and his report," the woman informed them. "He would prefer if you would allow him to give it with the body present, but he understands if you would rather meet in his office instead?"

Hinata knew she'd rather not see those wounds again, let alone the incisions and rough stitching that was made durring the autopsy...wounds that would never heal, stitches that would never fade to scars or less. Still, Sakura would want to see exactly what Shinri was talking about and double-check his conclusions on the spot. Both women knew, though, that it would very well be the second-to-last opportunity to be in the same room with the body of the man they had both held so dear.

Sakura reached over and took hold of Hinata's hand and gave it a squeeze of reassurance. She would wait to double check Shinri's work if Hinata didn't think she could stomach the morgue.

Hinata looked over to the woman in the door, "We'll come to the...to him."

The man nodded once, hesitantly, and then opened the door wider for the women to follow him.

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"As hard as it is to believe that he didn't heal like usual, there's one thing worse the autopsy revealed," Shinri-san said, lowering his eyes to some space between the women and the body of Uzumaki Naruto. "There was...tearing and bleeding....from the rectum......and bruising on his hips in the form of...hands. He was raped...at least twice before death."

Sakura felt sick to her stomach. Hinata actually lost her breakfast right there on the floor. For as much as she had grown in strength of body and mind over the years, she couldn't handle the thoughts of anyone being raped, let alone someone she held to be so strong and unbreakable. The truth was, though, that even the strongest could be broken once the right circumstances were found.

Kneeling on her hands and knees, Hinata was trembling, her shoes, pants, shirtsleeves, and hair containing flecks of vomit she wasn't sure had ceased escaping her body.

Sakura patted her back, now crouched beside her. She spoke words she wasn't sure of, "It's not what hurt him, Hinata. He wasn't broken by that. It could never have been enough to make him give up. They had to have done something else...because he just didn't give up!"

"I believe I know why he didn't heal like usual," Shinri continued once Hinata had stopped shaking almost violently. He waited for Sakura's eyes to be back on him before continuing. Hinata just couldn't look up anymore. "The Kyuubi was removed. I looked up the documentation on the seal on his abdomen. It no longer fits the description given in his most recent check-up report. The swirl isn't consistant any longer. It is broken in many places."

"NO!" Sakura jumped away from Hinata, throwing the white cloth off of Naruto's body to see for herself.

Shinri wasn't lying. It really did look a mess of what it used to be.

"...no..." she repeated softly, disbelief and fear turning her paler than Sai ever was. "No, this can't be! The Kyuubi was already gone! But...still...it's more like...they were trying to replace it and failed. Oh, Kami! Someone's got hold of another beast and they tried putting it in him..."

"We can't know that for sure, Sakura-sama," Shinri said, trying to bring at least one of the women back to their calm, sensible state. It just wasn't working.

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Hitomi knelt down by the headstone of her father, months after he was buried. In all reality, it might have been better to say that a year had passed, seeing as the date of his death was only about three weeks away.

It still hurt to be here, looking at the glass and resin sealed photo of her father set in the stone, smiling for the camera on the day of his inauguration as Hokage. She had been here earlier in the day with her mother, sister, and brother, and again with Neji, Ishiwa, and Toshihiro. But, it was now, away from them all, that she could finally make this confession.

"I really do miss you, Dad," she said, caressing the grass over his body lovingly. Normally, she would have fisted her hands in it and yelled at him for not being here with them, protecting them. But now, now she knew a little measure of peace. "I'm sorry for yelling at you so much since you left us. But...nobody would tell us why you died. Nobody would tell Hikari, Minato, and me who got hold of you...who could really be that strong?

"I have to talk about something else, though. Good news. That's why I came back again so late. I wanted to tell you first. Not even my husband knows. Heh, not even the village knows Toshihiro and I are married...just our families... I'm pregnant, Daddy. Toshihiro and I are gonna have a baby now. And, did you know that Iruka-sama is going to be a grandpa again? Dan's wife just found out today, too, but she's about a month farther than I am. Our Hokage is going to be a grandfather when he hasn't even been in office a year.

"I wonder what you'd say to that, especially since he's still so young... But, Mitsurami's baby is doing well, and Kakashi-sama is a good grandpa. Kyoki needs someone like that to watch over him. Kyomaru still hasn't proposed to Mitsurami-san...

"But...I just wanted you to know about your grandchild."

She sighed, thinking on things for a few minutes as the September wind blew her freshly cut hair this way and that across her face.

"It's funny, we weren't planning on a baby just yet, but just last week we were thinking about names. If it's a boy, we're gonna call him after you, but if it's a girl, we thought maybe something like Tabenko would be appropriate. Toshihiro's dad says Hikari and I are just like you, very talkative, and any child of ours would turn out the same. So, it would be kinda cute if she was the quietest child ever seen, huh?

"I have to get going now. Toshihiro still doesn't know. I think he'll be pretty happy once the shock wears off if last week was anything to go by. He seemed like he'd really enjoy being a dad.

"Did you like being our dad? I don't ever remember you saying you hated us, so I guess so. I love you, Daddy."

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"This is _not_ why I became a jonin!" Iruka muttered under his breath, reading over the poor excuse of a mission report written by the oldest ANBU operative known to exist...ever. Yes, there were the Sannin, but they all left Konoha before the age of forty, and the two that did come home didn't get back into ANBU. So, they didn't count. Kakashi, though... Iruka couldn't understand how the man's handwriting itself could be so pristine, but his word usage was terrible.

"I married you. I tried helping you. You showed me you knew how to write because of your reading skills. I fought you and kept you from becoming Hokage so that you could be with Mitsurami-chan when nobody knew if Kyomaru would make it out alive. I took on position of Hokage by a fluke win over you in combat, and you start turning in this slop to me? No sex for you tonight, old man."

He set the report down and took a second to lean on the desk and rub at his temples. The large, five bedroom house he, Kakashi, and Mitsurami's mother had bought together so many years ago seemed to be filling up appropriately. But, thinking about that while comfortably rubbing his temples was not possible just this moment. Little Uzumaki Minato had made a fifth attempt on Iruka just the day before. The boy had fallen hard out the window, and Iruka hadn't been taking things seriously. He caught the kid, and the drain pole at the same time.

Life was like that sometimes. You win some. You lose some. And, sometimes, you do both at once. He just hoped his grandchildren didn't start doing that, too.


End file.
